eic.i.L  ScV.v^ 


^^60  .K4  1901 
Kerlin,  Robert  Thomas,  1866 

Thfchurch  of  the  fathers 


THE         I*      DEC  11  1911 


Church  of  the  Fathers. 


A  History  of  Christianity  from 
Clement  to  Gregory. 

(A.D.  ioo-A,D.  too.) 


By  ROBERT  THOMAS  KERLIN. 


The  darkness  overcame  it  notP 

— Gospel  of  Jonrr. 


Nashville,  Tenn.;  Dallas,  Tex.: 

Publishing  House  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 

Barbee  &  Smith,  Agents. 


Copyrighted,  1901, 
By  Barbee  &  Smith,  Agents. 
(") 


DEDICATION. 

Having  some  years  ago  inscribed  a  little  volume  of 
song — the  best  that  was  then  mine  of  poetic  thought 
and  feeling to  the  memory  of  my  first  and  ever- 
CHERISHED  Mother,  I  dedicate  this  more  serious  effort, 

WITH  FILIAL  regard,  TO  MY  SECOND  MoTHER,  THE  EVER- 
NOURISHING  MOTHER  OF  SCIENCES  AND  ARTS,  CENTRAL  COL- 
LEGE, Fayette,  Mo.  The  Author. 

(iii) 


'(hrep  koTiv  ev  adtfiarc  i^xv,  tovt''  elolv  tv  KSafxif)  Xpiariavoi, — Epis- 
tle TO  DiOGNETUS. 

"ySterna  Safientiay  sese  hi  omnibus  rebus^   maxime  in  huniana 
mente^  omnium  7naxime  iji  Christu  Jesu  tnanifestavity — Spinoza. 
(iv) 


PREFACE. 

A  TWOFOLD  aim  has  governed  the  writer  of  this 
book.  He  has  desired,  first,  to  awaken  interest  in 
the  early  post-apostohc  history  of  the  Church,  to 
open  this  rich  field  to  new  searchers  after  knowl- 
edge, and  to  be  a  guide  to  them  to  the  mines  of 
purest  wealth.  In  the  second  place,  he  has  sought 
to  bring  some  shining  nuggets  from  this  far-off 
and  dim  region,  with  the  hope  that  here  and  there 
a  soul,  athirst  for  true  riches,  may  be  induced  to 
journey  thither  to  behold  those  mountains  whence 
he  gathered  the  only  precious  things  he  has  to  dis- 
play. In  plain  language,  he  has  culled  sayings  full 
of  perpetual  wisdom  from  the  writings  of  immortal 
but  unknown  men;  from  heroic,  good,  and  wise 
men,  whose  names  have  become  dim  in  the  news- 
paper age  of  the  world ;  but  men  wholly  worthy  to 
be  called  saints,  philosophers,  fathers.  Avoiding 
as  much  as  possible  all  abstruse  discussions  of  doc- 
trine, and  writing  as  a  layman  for  the  laity,  he  has 
told  the  story  of  the  Church  in  the  lives  of  illustri- 
ous men,  and  brought  them,  not  seldom,  to  speak 
for  themselves  in  passages  of  such  moral  beauty 
and  such  intrinsic  eloquence  as  the  literature  of 
the  world  may  rival,  possibly,  but  not  surpass. 

Professing  himself  to  have  been  for  many  years 
a  diligent  student  of  this  determinative  and  mar- 

(V) 


vi  Preface, 

velously  fruitful  age  of  the  Church,  interested  in 
every  phenomenon  of  its  life  as  no  insignificant 
thing  in  its  time  and  import,  yet  he  has  not  been, 
he  trusts,  so  fond  an  historian  of  ideas  and  usages 
as  to  cause  every  burial  ground  of  the  past  to  yield 
up  its  entire  host  of  forgotten  and  impertinent  dead. 
The  life  that  has  been  transmitted;  the  breathing 
and  embodied  doctrines  wherein  was  and  is  life  and 
power ;  the  heroic  and  undying  souls  wherein  the 
Word  that  is  eternal  spoke  ;  the  growing  institution ; 
the  Christian  conquest  of  the  world — these  are  the 
things  that  have  mainly  engaged  the  thoughts  of  the 
writer  of  this  book. 

Let  him  add  to  the  mottoes  already  presented  to 
the  reader  this  one  from  St.  Paul,  as  of  supreme 
usefulness  in  all  study  and  practice:  "  Prove  all 
things;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good." 

R.  T.  K. 

Marshall,  Mo., /«?/<%  1901. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Introduction, 

PAGE 

History  the  enlightener — The  interest  attaching  to  begin- 
nings— Review  of  the  Period — Principle  of  estimating 
men  and  things;  their  serviceableness  to  their  own  age 
— Sources  of  knowledge:  writings  of  the  Fathers;  the 
fourth  and  fifth  century  historians,  Eusebius,  Socrates, 
Sozomen,  and  Theodoret — Aim  and  spirit  of  this  present 
undertaking;  knowledge  of  Christian  history — Culture 
in  Christian  truths i 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Apostolic  Fathers. 
Their  importance:  historical;  ethical— The  men  and  their 
works:  Clement  of  Rome;  Ignatius  of  Antioch;  Poly- 
carp  of  Smyrna;  Hermas,  the  Didache;  the  Epistle  to 
Diognetus ;  miscellaneous  writings — Character  and  value 
of  these  early  documents 13 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Apologists. 
Greek  philosophers  converted  to  Christianity — Employed 
Hellenic  culture  in  defense  of  the  gospel — Their  achieve- 
ment; the  founding  of  Christian  theology,  or  a  philoso- 
phy of  Christianity — Quadratus,  Aristides,  Melito,  Apol- 
linaris,  Miltiades,  Athenagoras,  Justin  Martyr,  Tatian, 
Theophilus,  Felix  Maximus,  Tertullian,  Origen;  Exposi- 
tion of  Justin  Martyr  as  representative — Summary 35 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  School  of  Alexandria. 
The  City:  cosmopolitan  in  culture;  free  in  religious  thought 
— Philonism — Neoplatonism — The  Catechetical  School — 

Clement ;  Origen 53 

(vii) 


viii  Contents. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Early  Herksies  and  the  Formation  of  a  Canon.  ^,^^^^ 
How  the  question  of  a  canon  of  Scriptures  arose;  diver- 
gencies in  doctrine  gave  rise  to  need  of  a  rule  of  faith 
(/cavojv)  —  Ebionism — Gnosticism — Monarchianism  — The 
formation  of  a  canon,  or  body  of  authoritative  documents, 
a  gradual  process 8i 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Ecclesiastical  Organization. 
Growth:  stages  traceable  ;  causes — Priestly  orders  and  their 
functions:  bishops,  presbyters,  deacons,  etc. — Roman 
empire  the  pattern  of  the  Church — The  rise  of  Rome  to 
supremacy:  favoring  conditions;  causes  and  stages — 
Opposition  to  growing  priestcraft — Montanism  ;  Monas- 
ticism 103 

CHAPTER  Vn. 
The  Church  and  the  Empire. 
Persecutions — Attitude  of  the  empire  toward  religions;  to- 
ward Christianity — Why  the  Christians  were  persecuted 
— The  Church's  condition  from  Nero,  A.D .  54,  to  Diocle- 
tian, A.D.  311 — The  catacombs:  the  underground  age 
of  Christianity — Constantine  the  Great:  Christianity  on 
the  imperial  throne 117 

CHAPTER  Vni. 
The  Arian  Controversy. 
Freedom  from  danger  without;  foes  within — Streams  of 
thought — Monarchianism;  two  wings — Arianism — Rise 
— Attempts  at  settlement — ^The  First  Ecumenical  Coun- 
cil: character;  work;  results — Varying  party  fortunes — 
Arius  and  Athanasius 145 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Great  Men  of  the  East. 
The  epoch  one  of  eminent  men — The  three  Cappadocians, 
Basil,  Gregory  of  Nazianzum,  Gregory  of  Nyssa;  Chrys- 
ostom 1 73 


Contents.  ix 

CHAPTER  X. 
Great  Men  of  the  West.  p^^^. 

Ambrose — Jerome — Augustine 20i 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Worship,  Ritual,  and  Observances. 
Houses  of  worship — Symbolism — Overthrow  of  paganism 
— Reaction — ^Julian  the  Apostate — Pagan  survivals  in 
Christianity;  numerous;  reasonable — Hymnologj;  ear- 
liest Christian  usage — Chief  hjmn-writers  of  the  period 
— Liturgies  and  festivals — Saints,  relics,  and  miracles; 
the  gradual  corruption  of  the  pure  religion 227 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Monasticism. 
Origin,  spirit,  and  aim — A  feature  of  various  other  reli- 
gions— Early  Christian  hermits  in  Egypt — Spread — Ra- 
tionale, and  conditions  producing  Monasticism — The 
barbarian  invasion — Visigoths,  Huns,  Vandals — Service 
of  Monasticism — Benedict  of  Nursia  and  his  order — 
Planting  of  Christianity  in  Germany,  Gaul,  and  Britain..  251 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Pelagian  Controversy. 
Origin — Outbreak — Pelagius,  Synods — Teachings  of  Pela- 
gius — Estimate  of  the  opposing  doctrines 275 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Councils  and  Creeds. 
Remarks  upon  the  period — Spirit  of  fairness  in  judging  of 
the  Church's  work — The  first  five  Ecumenical  Councils: 
of  Nica^a,  of  Constantinople,  of  Ephesus,  of  Chalcedon, 
of  Constantinople  (second)— The  various  controversies 
which  occasioned  them — Creeds:  attempted  exclusions 
of  heresies  by  strict  definitions  of  the  faith ;  the  Nicene, 
the  Apostles',  the  Athanasian 303 


X  Contents. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Gregory  the  Great — Conclusion.  ^.^^^ 
Significance  of   great  men — Preparation  of   Gregory  for 
eminence — Kinds  of  service  he  rendered  the  Church — 
Consolidation  and  enforcement  of  conformity — One  pe- 
riod of  Church  nistory  closed — Conclusion 325 

Appendix  I.:  Chief  Authors  and  Their  Chief  Works 339 

Appendix  II. :  Table  of  Emperors 345 

Select  Bibliography xi 


SELECT  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


History  of  the  Christian  Church.  Dr.  Philip  Schaff.  Scribners. 
Encyclopedic,  filled  with  pregnant  comment,  characterized 
by  breadth  of  spirit  and  largeness  of  aim. 

History  of  Latin  Christianity .  H.  H.  Milman.  "Standard  Edi- 
tion "  in  four  volumes.  Armstrong  and  Son,  New  York.  Al- 
most epical,  full  of  learning  and  of  eloquence,  written  in  the 
finest  spirit  of  ripe  scholarship  and  broad  sympathies. 

Christian  History.  J.  H.  Allen.  Three  volumes.  Roberts 
Brothers,  Boston.  An  interesting  narration  from  a  human- 
istic point  of  view,  and  dealing  with  salient  forces  and  chief 
men. 

History  of  Christian  Doctrine.  G.  P.  Fisher.  In  the  "Interna- 
tional Theological  Library."  An  excellent  comprehensive 
volume. 

Christian  Institutions.  A.  V.  G.  Allen.  Another  volume  of  the 
"  International  Theological  Library."     Admirably  written. 

Mammal  of  Pair  ology.  W.N.  Stearns,  Ph.D.  Scribners.  An 
invaluable  handbook  that  gives  a  "concise  account  of  the 
chief  persons,  sects,  orders,  etc.,  in  Christian  history  from 
the  first  century  to  the  Reformation." 

Library  of  the  Fathers.  Edited  by  Dr.  Schaff.  Thirty-six  vol- 
umes. This  library  contains  the  most  important  writings  of 
the  Fathers  of  the  first  six  centuries.  It  is  the  storehouse 
of  knowledge  for  all  historians. 

The  Fathers  for  English  Readers,  edited  by  G.  A.  Jackson,  is  an 
excellent  series  of  brief  monographs,  including  the  follow- 
ing: "The  Apostolic  Fathers,"  "The  Defenders  of  the 
Faith,"  "Clement  of  Alexandria,"  "Saint  Athanasius," 
"Saint  Ambrose,"  "Saint  Gregory,"  "Saint  Basil,"  "Saint 
Jerome,"  "Saint  Augustine,"  "Leo  the  Great,"  "Saint  Pat- 
rick," "  Gregory  the  Great."     Price  each,  80  cents. 

(xi) 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE- FATHERS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

"  For  neither  is  there  life  without  knowledge  nor  sound 
knowledge  without  true  life." — Efistle  to  Diognetus. 

The  present  cannot  be  understood,  nor  the  fu- 
ture conjectured,  without  a  knowledge  of  the  past. 
The  simplest  institutions  among  us  are  a  heritage 
from  an  antiquity  hoary  as  that  of  the  pyramids. 
Being  the  embodiment  of  ideas  and  purposes  cre- 
ated by  the  growing  mind  of  man,  they  have  de- 
veloped in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  his  nature 
and  in  response  to  his  varying  needs,  taking,  slow- 
ly but  surely,  the  charac'*eristic  features  of  the 
aims  and  ideals  of  each  succeeding  age,  all  the 
while,  through  all  transformations,  subject  to  an 
underlying  principle  which  preserves  their  identi- 
ty. To  build  wisely  we  must  know  the  architec- 
tural plan,  the  original  conception;  and  this  can 
be  discovered  only  by  a  careful  study  of  the  foun- 
dations and  a  survey  of  the  rising  structure.  This 
knowledge  as  regards  the  edifice  called  society,  or 
civilization- — this  cathedral  which  is  always  build- 
ing, never  finished — is  derived  from  a  study  of 
history.  The  laws  of  development  to  v/hich  fu- 
ture efforts  must  conform  are  to  be  discovered  in 
the  records  of  events  and  made  the  common  pos- 
session of  all ;  for  all  have,  in  various  degrees,  a  de- 
termining influence  upon   progress.      Knowledge 

(I) 


2  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

of  histor}^  makes  this  influence  an  enlightened, 
conservative,  forwarding  one.  The  long  look 
ahead  can  be  obtained  only  by  getting  the  bear- 
ings and  line  of  general  direction  from  the  past 
course  of  advance.  The  past  is  all  prophetic; 
the  future  lies  in  the  womb  of  the  present. 

All  origins  are  interesting.  The  account  of  all 
development  is  philosophy  in  the  concrete.  The 
history  of  institutions,  of  their  rise  and  growth, 
their  functions  and  purposes,  is  one  of  the  most 
instructive,  broadening,  and  liberalizing  studies 
that  can  occupy  the  mind.  Preeminent  among 
human  institutions  are  those  which  spring  out  of 
man's  religious  nature.  The  central  fact  of  his 
being  is  his  religion ;  worship  is  his  most  univer- 
sal trait  and  most  fundamental  instinct.  Wherever 
he  has  built  him  a  house  in  which  to  dwell,  he  has 
reared  him  a  temple  in  which  to  pray  and  adore. 
All  the  facts  and  phenomena  of  man's  life,  social 
and  individual,  order  themselves  about  religion  as 
a  determining  principle.  The  nature  of  man  is  per- 
manently and  prevailingly  religious. 

Therefore  no  institutions  are  more  interesting 
to  study  in  their  rise,  development,  functions,  and 
influences — all  that  make  up  history — than  those 
most  immediately  embodying  the  religious  idea. 
Chief  among  these  for  us  is  the  Christian  Church. 
This  history  we  purpose  to  outline,  and  its  signifi- 
cance to  indicate,  in  a  few  brief  chapters,  only  de- 
signing to  win  our  readers  to  a  recognition  of  the 
supreme  importance  of  the  subject  and  to  direct 


Introduction .  3 

them  in  the  way  of  a  systematic  and  thorough  study 
in  the  books  of  the  great  historians. 

Where  shall  we  begin?  The  true  starting  place 
is  indeed  not  this  side  of  Abraham,  the  father  of 
the  faithful  and  the  founder  of  the  congregation  of 
Israel.  But  our  purpose  hardly  requires  an  ac- 
count ab  ovo ;  though  no  student  of  Church  history 
should  fail  to  inform  himself  as  regards  the  teach- 
ings and  manner  of  service  in  vogue  successively 
in  the  tabernacle,  the  temple,  and  the  synagogue. 
The  Church  stands,  in  line  of  development,  the 
successor  of  these.  Conforming  to  the  prevalent 
usage,  and  vvithout  any  open  hostility  to  the  estab- 
lished order,  Jesus  taught  and  the  apostles  preached 
in  the  synagogues  of  their  nation.  It  was  inevita- 
ble that  much  in  the  way  of  ritual,  polity,  and  doc- 
trine should  be  carried  into  the  new  society,  how- 
ever radical  seems  the  change  to  a  simpler  wor- 
ship and  more  ethical  teaching.  Can  there  be 
anything  in  common,  it  may  be  asked,  between  a 
Wesleyan  chapel  and  a  cathedral  of  the  Church  of 
England?  Yes,  more  than  a  casual  observer  at 
first  discerns.  Whatever  of  ritual  is  found  in  the 
lowly  chapel — and  there  must  be  some,  and  often 
is  much — is  derived  from  the  stately  cathedral. 
The  Jewish  synagogue  is  no  less  the  mother  of 
the  Christian  Church.  The  New  Testament  is  not 
more  truly  the  logical  development  of  the  Old,  and 
Christianity  not  more  the  legitimate  outcome  of 
Judaism,  than  is  the  Church  as  an  organization 
the  offspring  of  the   synagogue.     The  congrega- 


4  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

tion  of  the  old  dispensation  becomes  the  ekklesia 
of  the  new.  But  for  a  full  account  of  this  matter 
the  reader  must  go  to  Schiirer's  '^Jewish  People 
in  the  Time  of  Christ"  and  Toy's  **Judaism  and 
Christianity."  We  pass  over  not  only  this  impor- 
tant transition  period,  but  also  the  New  Testament 
times  as  well,  and  begin  with  the  Church  of  the 
Apostolic  Fathers. 

What  may  the  reader  expect  in  this  history,  and 
what  are  the  inducements  to  its  study?  We  have 
limited  ourselves  to  the  first  six  centuries  following 
New  Testament  times — a  period  including  what  is 
commonly,  but  ignorantly,  denominated  the  Dark 
Ages.  Never  in  the  history  of  human  life  was  the 
human  mind  more  actively  engaged  on  problems 
of  thought  which  required  solution  and  on  the 
framing  of  institutions  which  were  necessary; 
never  was  there  an  a^^e  more  aboundinjx  in  moral 
enthusiasm  and  spiritual  aspiration.  Keen  meta- 
physicians, bold  speculators,  prolific  writers,  elo- 
quent preachers,  great  ecclesiasts — Origen,  Atha- 
nasius,  and  Chrysostom ;  Ambrose,  Jerom.e,  and 
Augustine;  Leo  and  Gregory — belong  to  this  pe- 
riod. It  gave  birth  and  direction  to  monasticism, 
one  of  the  supreme  religious  movements  of  histo- 
ry. It  was  an  era  of  Christian  conquest  of  pagan- 
ism and  barbarism,  of  assimilation,  organization, 
and  establishment.  Creeds  had  to  be  formulated; 
doctrines  had  to  be  digested  and  developed  into 
system;  liturgies,  ceremonies,  and  rituals,  festi- 
vals and  observances — for  there  is  no  Church  with- 


Introduction,  g 

Out  these — had  to  be  ordered  and  brought  into  serv- 
ice. 

It  was  an  age  of  genius  and  achievements— not, 
it  is  true,  in  poetry  or  in  any  form  of  fine  art,  but 
in  the  treatment  of  theological  problems  and  in  the 
creation  of  fitting  ecclesiastical  institutions.  The 
usefulness  now,  or  absence  of  usefulness,  of  what 
the  men  of  that  time  did,  must  not  be  taken  as  a 
measure  of  its  usefulness  then.  In  view  of  the 
conditions  of  those  times  and  of  the  work  that  lay 
before  the  Church,  the  verdict  of  necessity  must 
rest  upon  the  general  character  and  results  of  their 
activity. 

Within  our  survey  shall  come  the  literary  con- 
flict with  paganism;  the  persecutions  which  the 
Christians  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  Empire; 
their  heroic  deaths  and  wonderful  triumphs  over 
pain,  and  the  winning  of  imperial  power  and  final 
triumph  over  paganism;  the  missionary  labors 
which  resulted  in  the  Christianization  of  Europe, 
the  triumph  over  barbarism;  the  growth  of  eccle- 
siasticism  and  the  origin  of  the  papacy;  the  work 
of  councils  in  the  settlement  of  disputes,  the  pro- 
mulgation of  canons  and  creeds,  and  the  eradica- 
tion of  heresies.  The  customs  and  manner  of  life, 
the  great  words  and  virtuous  works,  of  believers 
will  engage  much  of  our  attention.  Examples  of 
heroic  fidelity  to  Christ,  legends  of  beautiful  lives, 
illustrations  of  the  simplicity  and  sweetness  of  the 
disciples'  trust  in  Christ,  shall  ennoble  our  pages. 
It  will  be  a  history  of  beginnings,  which  should  al- 


6  The  Church  of  the  JFathers, 

ways  be  interesting;  a  history  of  great  intellectual 
and  moralconflicts  and  of  illustrious  men  ;  the  his- 
tory of  an  institution  still  living  and  growing,  an  in- 
stitution without  parallel  in  origin,  in  power,  and  in 
perpetuity;   a  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

The  author,  in  writing  this  history,  has  first  of 
all  sought  his  information  first-hand  from  the  liter- 
ature of  the  times  of  which  he  treats.  He  passes 
judgment  on  no  book  which  he  has  not  read,  nor 
on  any  personage  whose  life  and  work  he  has  not 
studied.  The  Fathers,  as  he  wrote,  were  about 
him  in  his  library.  While  modern  authorities  have 
not  been  neglected,  the  early  historians  of  the 
Church — Eusebius,  Socrates,  Sozomen,  and  The- 
odoret — have  been  constantly  by  his  side,  his  chief 
teachers.  Of  this  group  of  historians  it  is  befitting, 
since  we  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  frequently 
to  refer  to  them,  to  give  here  some  account. 

Eusebius,  after  St.  Luke,  was  the  first  historian 
of  the  Church,  and  is  chief  of  the  early  group  in 
importance.  He  was  bishop  of  Cassarea  from 
about  A.D.  313  until  his  death,  about  337.  His 
learning  is  accounted  to  be  very  great,  and  he  was 
fortunate  in  having  access,  when  he  came  to  write 
his  history  of  the  Church,  to  the  vast  library  which 
Origen  had  gotten  together  in  Caesarea.  He  was 
an  honored  friend  of  Constantine,  the  first  Chris- 
tian emperor;  he  was  a  distinguished  member  of 
the  first  Ecumenical  Council,  at  Nicsea,  in  A.D. 
325;  he  was  the  father  of  Church  history.  The 
conception  he  had  of  his  task  is  nobly  expressed 


Introductii 


on. 


in  his  own  worcLs:  '*  Other  writers  of  history,"  he 
says,  "record  the  victories  of  war  and  trophies 
won  from  enemies,  the  skill  of  generals,  and  the 
manly  bravery  of  soldiers,  defiled  with  blood  and 
with  innumerable  slaughters,  for  the  sake  of  chil- 
dren and  country  and  other  possessions.  But  our 
narrative  of  the  government  of  God  will  record  in 
ineffaceable  letters  the  most  peaceful  wars  waged 
in  behalf  of  the  peace  of  the  soul,  and  will  tell  of 
men  doing  brave  deeds  for  truth  rather  than  coun- 
try, and  for  piety  rather  than  dearest  friends.  It 
will  hand  down  to  imperishable  remembrance  the 
discipline  and  the  much-tried  fortitude  of  the  ath- 
letes of  religion,  the  trophies  won  from  demons,  the 
victories  over  invisible  enemies,  and  the  crowns 
placed  upon  all  their  heads." 

His  history,  together  with  his  "Life  of  Con- 
stantine,'^  covers  the  whole  period  of  the  Church 
from  the  beginning  to  the  death  of  that  emperor, 
A.D.  337. 

Socrates  comes  next  in  order  of  time.  Born  at 
Constantinople  about  A.D.  380,  he  wrote  a  full 
century  after  Eusebius,  and,  treating  more  fully  of 
certain  things,  especially  of  the  Arian  controver- 
sy, than  that  author,  he  continued  the  history  of 
the  Church  to  the  year  439.  He  was  conscien- 
tious and  careful  in  gathering  information  and  im- 
partial in  his  treatment  of  the  controversies.  He 
had  a  wide  acquaintance  with  Greek  literature 
and  was  broad  and  liberal-minded.  None  the 
less  did  he  have  a   high  respect  for  the  Church 


8  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

and  her  institutions,  although  he  was  no  slave  to 
formalism. 

Sozomen  was  born  the  same  year  with  Socrates. 
He  covered  but  a  period  of  one  hundred  years 
(from  323  to  423)  with  his  histor}^  Being  an  ar- 
dent monk,  he  wrote  to  a  great  extent  in  the  inter- 
ests of  monasticism.  He  is  uncritical  and  not 
very  learned.  His  pages  throng  with  accounts  of 
visions,  portents,  and  miracles.  Yet  he  is  a  valu- 
able historian,  especially  as  giving  us  an  inside 
view  of  the  mind  of  the  age  and  of  the  great  in- 
stitution of  ascetics. 

Theodoret  was  born  about  A.D.  393  at  Antioch, 
and  lived  all  his  life  in  the  midst  of  the  most  heat- 
ed controversies.  He  was  a  scholar,  familiar  with 
the  Syriac,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  languages.  The 
greatest  Antiochian  theologians,  a  distinctly  criti- 
cal school,  were  his  teachers.  In  his  history  he  is 
clear,  concise,  and  veracious.  He  begins  his  nar- 
rative where  Eusebius  leaves  off,  and  continues  it 
over  the  space  of  one  hundred  and  five  years,  i.  e., 
to  A.D.  429.  His  lofty  words  in  setting  forth  the 
design  of  his  history  the  present  writer  may  humbly 
choose  as  his  own:  *' When  artists  paint  on  panels 
and  on  walls  the  events  of  ancienthistory,  they  alike 
delight  the  eye  and  keep  bright  for  many  a  year 
the  memory  of  the  past.  Historians  substitute 
books  for  panels,  bright  description  for  pigments, 
and  thus  render  the  memory  of  past  events  both 
stronger  and  more  permanent,  for  the  painter's 
art  is  ruined  by  time.     For  this  reason  I  too  shall 


Introduction.  9 

attempt  to  record  in  writing  events  in  ecclesiasti- 
cal history  hitherto  omitted,  deeming  it  indeed 
not  right  to  look  on  without  an  effort  while  obliv- 
ion robs  noble  deeds  and  useful  stories  of  their 
due  fame.  For  this  cause,  too,  I  have  been  fre- 
quently urged  by  friends  to  undertake  this  work. 
But  when  I  compare  my  own  powers  with  the 
magnitude  of  the  undertaking,  I  shrink  from  at- 
tempting it.  Trusting,  however,  in  the  bounty  of 
the  Giver  of  all  good,  I  enter  upon  a  task  beyond 
my  own  strength." 


THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS. 


"  The  Apostolic  Fathers  are  here  understood  as  filling  up  the 
second  century  of  our  era.  .  .  .  We  thus  find  ourselves 
conducted,  by  this  goodly  fellowship  of  witnesses,  from  the 
times  of  the  apostles  to  those  of  Tertullian,  from  the  martyrs 
of  the  second  persecution  to  those  of  the  sixth.  Those  were 
the  times  of  heroism,  not  of  words;  an  age,  not  of  writers, 
but  of  soldiers;  not  of  talkers,  but  of  sufferers.  Curiosity  is 
baffled,  but  faith  and  love  are  fed  by  those  scanty  relics  of 
primitive  antiquity.  Yet  may  we  well  be  grateful  for  what 
we  have.  These  writings  come  down  to  us  as  the  earliest  re- 
sponse of  converted  nations  to  the  testimony  of  Jesus.  They 
are  primary  evidences  of  the  canon  and  the  credibility  of  the 
New  Testament.  Disappointment  may  be  the  first  emotion  of 
the  student  who  comes  down  from  the  mount  where  he  has 
dwelt  in  the  tabernacles  of  evangelists  and  apostles.  .  .  . 
Yet  the  thoughtful  and  loving  spirit  soon  learns  their  exceed- 
ing value.  For  who  does  not  close  the  records  of  St.  Luke 
with  longings  to  get  at  least  a  glimpse  of  the  further  history  of 
the  progress  of  the  gospel?  What  of  the  Church  when  its 
founders  were  fallen  asleep .-'  Was  the  Good  Snepherd  'al- 
ways' with  his  little  flock,  according  to  his  promise,?  Was  the 
blessed  Comforter  felt  in  his  presence  amid  the  fires  of  perse- 
cution? Was  the  Spirit  of  Truth  really  able  to  guide  the 
faithful  unto  all  truth,  and  to  keep  them  in  the  truth?" — A. 
Clevelajid  Coxe,  Introduction  to  Vol.  /.  of  ^'■Aiite-Nicene  Fathers^ 
(12) 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS. 

(second  century.) 

"Viva  vox  usque  hodie  personalis." — Papias. 

"The  same  [doctrines]  commit  thou  to  faithful  men  who 
shall  be  able  to  teach  others  also."     (2  Tim.  ii.  2.) 

'"  In  them  [the  Apostolic  Fathers]  v^^e  may  discern  the  tenden- 
cies operating  from  the  beginning  wMiich  are  to  color  the  liis- 
tory  of  the  Church  in  all  coming  time." — A.  V.  G.  Allen. 

Whoever  would  trace  the  growth  of  Christian 
usages  and  doctrines,  and  in  any  measure  under- 
stand the  history  of  the  Church,  must  begin  with 
the  Apostolic  Fathers.  On  other  grounds,  espe- 
cially because  of  their  pure  and  high  ethical  ut- 
terances, they  are  well  worthy  of  study.  For  the 
culture  of  the  Christian  life  they  stand  close,  not 
only  in  time  but  in  power,  to  the  writings  of  the 
very  apostles  themselves,  their  spiritual  fathers. 
No  theory  of  inspiration  should  cause  us  to  be 
indifferent  to  this  extra-biblical  but  thoroughly 
Christian  literature,  or  to  restrict  our  knowledge  of 
Christian  origins  to  the  small  volume  of  canonical 
writings,  which  scarcely  bring  us  out  of  the  first 
century.  For  historical  information,  if  not  for  the 
higher  spiritual  uses,  our  interest  in  the  Church  of 
Christ  and  of  the  apostles  should  lead  us  to  a 
study  of  the  words  and  works,  the  lives  and  labors, 
of  those  who  transmitted  to  us  the  influences  and 
institutions  of  the  founders. 

(^3) 


14  The  Church  of  the  Fathers 

Furthermore,  the  New  Testament  itself,  giving 
evidence  as  it  does  of  a  supreme  renaissance  of 
the  spirit,  should  lead  us  to  expect  some  further 
contribution  from  the  succeeding  age  to  the  reli- 
gious treasures  of  our  race.  Surety,  one  might 
say,  this  great  movement: — using  the  language  of 
secular  history — this  unparalleled  effort  after  mor- 
al reform  and  spiritual  freedom,  has  not  so  quickly 
spent  its  force  and  ceased  to  bring  forth  illumi- 
nated men,  and,  through  them,  luminous  records 
of  the  inspired  life  ?  The  Light  of  the  World  that 
enlightened  the  minds  of  those  firstborn  of  the 
new  era,  can  it  have  become  suddenly  extinct  and 
left  the  infant  Church, 

Crying  in  the  night, 
An  infant  crying  for  the  light, 
And  with  no  language  but  a  cry? 

Rather  should  we  expect  that  the  promised  Spirit 
of  Truth  would  be  preser^t,  abiding  with  the  be- 
lievers, and  leading  into  a  fuller  comprehension  of 
spiritual  realities  and  a  deeper  experience  of  the 
faith,  and  causing  them  to  produce  a  literature,  if 
not  worthy  to  be  held  sacred,  yet  '•  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  correction,  for  reproof,  for  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness  ";  or,  as  Jerome  says  of  the 
Old  Testament  apocrypha,  *'for  example  of  life 
and  instruction  of  manners." 

We  indeed  find  such  a  literature — as,  truly,  the 
known  laws  of  the  human  spirit  would  teach  us  to 
expect;  a  literature  so  noble  in  tone,  so  lofty  in 
ethical  teaching,   so    breathing   the    spirit  of  the 


The  Apostolic  Fathers.  15 

Master,  so  animated  by  large  thoughts  and  fer- 
vent emotions,  that  much  of  it  was  read  for  some 
generations  in  the  churches  equally  with  the  writ- 
ings of  the  apostles  themselves.  Inspiration  was 
claimed  for  it  by  the  Fathers. 

The  authors  of  this  earliest  literature  imme- 
diately succeeding  the  New  Testament  are  known 
as  Apostolic  Fathers.  They  were  not  apostles,  but 
the  apostles'  spiritual  children  of  the  first  genera- 
tion; that  is,  their  immediate  successors.  They  are 
to  be  distinguished  from  the  "Church  Fathers" 
as  being  included  among  the  latter,  as  a  species 
within  a  genus;  for  "  Church.  Fathers  "  is  a  desig- 
nation applied  to  all  the  accepted  Christian  teach- 
ers of  the  first  six  or  more  centuries. 

The  advantage  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  was  very 
great.  They  received  the  sayings  of  our  Lord 
first-hand  from  those  who  had  heard  his  very 
voice  and  in  their  hearts  had  treasured  up  his  pre- 
cious v/ords.  They  had  been  quickened  into  new- 
ness of  life  by  the  holy  zeal  of  those  who  had 
been  for  months  and  even  years  companions,  night 
and  day,  of  the  Christ.  They  had  been  touched 
by  the  holy  fire  direct  from  the  altar  of  God; 
they  had  drunk  of  the  fountain  of  Life  near  its 
source.  Should  the  power  of  this  influence  fail 
to  manifest  itself  in  their  lives,  their  words,  and 
their  labors  ?  Could  the  stream  of  the  river  of  God, 
*' which  is  always  full,"  bursting,  as  it  were,  from 
the  cleft  rock  of  Judaism,  sink  so  soon  in  the  des- 
ert sands  of  heathendom  or  paganism?     The  pre- 


1 6  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

supposition  to  the  contrary  is  confirmed  by  the 
witness  of  their  writings.  Whoever  will  conceive 
a  sufficient  interest  in  the  development  of  Chris- 
tianity to  lead  him  to  look  into  the  writings  of  the 
Apostolic  Fathers  will  find  that  they  possess  in  large 
measure,  if  not  undiminished,  the  moral  fervor, 
the  ethical  aspiration,  the  spiritual  illumination, 
even  of  the  first  great  teachers.  Some  of  their 
productions,  as  we  shall  see,  were  regarded  for 
three  or  four  centuries  wdth  as  high  esteem  as  the 
writings  finally  adopted  into  the  sacred  canon. 
The  period  of  these  Fathers  coincides,  generally 
speaking,  with  the  first  half  of  the  second  cen- 
tury; to  speak  more  accurately,  it  may  be  said  to 
lap  over  the  third  half-century  of  the  Christian 
era  about  ten  years  at  each  end.  A  single  volume 
of  five  hundred  and  seventy  pages,  a  product  of 
the  ripe  scholarship  of  Bishop  Lightfoot,  includes 
all  their  writings,  both  the  original  Greek  and  the 
editor's  translation,  accompanied  b}'  brief  intro- 
ductory notes. 

Of  this  literature  I  will  give  a  brief  account,  and 
seek  by  the  imperfect  means  of  quotations  to  show 
what  it  is  worth. 

I.  The  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

This  was  written  at  Rome  about  A.D.  95,  by 
St.  Clement,  to  the  church  at  Corinth,  in  order  to 
heal  a  division  there  and  to  settle  the  question  of 
authority  in  the  church.  There  were  two  bitterly 
opposing  parties,  and  the  contention   was  about 


The  Afostolic  Fathers,  17 

the  power  of  the  elders.  There  had  been  a  revo- 
lution in  the  church,  and  the  presb3^ters  had  been 
deposed.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  rebellion  of  the 
early  spirit  of  freedom  in  respect  to  preaching, 
prophesying,  worshiping,  and  living,  against  a 
growing  orderliness  and  ecclesiasticism.  Clem- 
ent, after  the  true  Roman  fashion,  decides  against 
the  free  spirit  in  favor  of  subordination,  decorum, 
and  order.  The  apostles,  he  writes,  appointed 
bishops  and  deacons  in  every  city  w^here  the}^ 
preached,  and  to  these  gave  authority  ;  they 
should  be  obe37ed  as  God  himself,  inasmuch  as 
their  power  comes  to  them  through  Christ  and  the 
apostles  from  him.  This  is  a  truly  Roman  con- 
ception, and  the  letter  is  important  as  showing- 
how  even  in  the  first  century  the  church  at  Rome 
was  assuming  an  extensive  oversight  and  author- 
ity. The  natural  order  and  government  of  the 
world  serves  to  exemplify  and  teach  how  it  should 
be  in  the  Church.  Pleadings  as  well  as  argu- 
ments are  used  by  this  great-hearted  and  wise 
head  of  the  Roman  Church.^ 

The  past,  by  way  of  exhortation  to  unity  and 
long-suffering,  is  brought  before  them  in  these 
words:  *'And  ye  were  all  lowly  in  mind  and  free 
from  arrogance,  yielding  rather  than  claiming  sub- 
mission, more  glad  to  give  than  to  receive,  and 


iln  the  half-shadow  in  which  he  remained,  enveloped  and, 
as  it  were,  lost  in  the  luminous  dust  of  a  fine  historic  distance, 
Clement  is  one  of  the  great  figures  of  a  nascent  Christianity. — 
Renan. 

2 


1 8  The  Chtt7'ch  of  the  Fathers.  • 

content  with  the  provisions  which  God  supplieth. 
And  giving  heed  unto  his  words,  ye  laid  them  up 
dihgently  in  your  hearts,  arid  his  sufferings  were 
before  your  eyes.  Thus  a  profound  and  rich 
peace  was  given  to  all,  and  an  insatiable  desire  of 
doing  good."  The  lessons  of  history,  of  God's 
mercies,  and  of  Christ's  sufferings  are  adduced  in 
powerful  arguments  and  appeals.  The  teachings 
of  providence  in  nature,  too,  are  invoked  to  the 
writer's  aid  in  reclaiming  the  disrupted  Church: 
'*The  heavens  are  moved  by  his  direction,  and 
obey  him  in  peace.  Day  and  night  accomplish  the 
course  assigned  to  them,  without  hindrance  one 
to  another.  The  sun  and  the  moon  and  the  dan- 
cing stars,  according  to  his  appointment,  circle  in 
harmony  within  the  bounds  assigned  to  them,  with- 
out any  swerving  aside."  The  depths  of  the  abyss- 
es; theseasons  which  "give  way  in  succession  one 
to  another  in  peace"  ;  the  winds,  which  "  fulfill  their 
ministry  without  disturbance  "  ;  **  the  ever-flowing 
fountains,  created  for  enjoyment  and  health"; 
all  these  things  the  Creator  and  Master  of  the 
universe  ordered  to  be  in  peace  and  concord, 
'*  doing  good  unto  all  things,  but,  far  beyond  the 
rest,  unto  us  who  have  taken  refuge  in  his  com- 
passionate mercies." 

The  contemplation  of  divine  goodness,  no  less 
than  of  divine  majesty,  awakens  exclamations  of 
praise.  "How  blessed,"  he  cries  out,  ''how 
blessed  and  marvelous  are  the  gifts  of  God,  dear- 
ly   beloved !     Life    in    immortality,    splendor    in 


The  Afostolic  leathers,  19 

righteousness,  truth  in  boldness,  faith  in  confi- 
dence, temperance  in  sanctification  !  "  With  max- 
ims of  virtue  and  wise  observations  on  the  nature 
of  things  are  mingled  the  noblest  exhortations  to 
worthy  and  harmonious  living.  The  chief  con- 
cern of  teachers  in  the  Church  is  still  the  conduct 
of  life:  "  Let  the  wise,"  writes  Clement,  *' display 
his  wisdom  not  in  words,  but  in  good  works." 

2.  The  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

This  also  bears  the  name  of  Clement,  but  is  not 
now  attributed  to  him;  nor  is  it  an  epistle,  but  a 
homily,  the  oldest  extant  homily  of  the  Church. 
It  was  written  between  A.D.  120  and  140  by  some 
author  unknown.  Noble  throughout  in  moral 
teaching  and  exhortations  to  a  lofty  plane  of  liv- 
ing, the  last  paragraph  is  well  worthy  of  being 
quoted  entire:  *' Neither  suffer  ye  this  again  to 
trouble  your  mind,  that  we  see  the  unrighteous 
possessing  wealth,  and  the  servants  of  God  strait- 
ened. Let  us  then  have  faith,  brothers  and  sis- 
ters. We  are  contending  in  the  lists  of  a  livincr 
God;  and  we  are  trained  by  the  present  life,  that 
we  may  be  crowned  with  the  future.  No  righteous 
man  hath  reaped  fruit  quickly,  but  waiteth  for  it. 
For  if  God  had  paid  the  recompense  of  the  right- 
eous speedily,  then  straightway  we  should  have 
been  training  ourselves  in  merchandise,  and  not 
in  godliness;  for  we  should  seem  to  be  righteous, 
though  we  were  pursuing  not  that  which  is  godly, 
but  that  which  is  gainful.     And  for  this  cause  di- 


20  The  Chu7'ch  of  the  leathers. 

vine  judgment  overtaketh  a  spirit  that  is  not  just, 
and  loadeth  it  with  chains." 

3.  The  Epistles  of  Ignatius. 

These  are  seven  letters  written  by  St.  Ignatius 
while  on  his  way  from  Antioch,  of  which  city  he 
was  bishop,  to  Rome,  to  suffer  martyrdom  in  the 
arena  for  his  faith,  having  already  been  condemned 
to  death.  The  letters,  with  one  exception,  are  ad- 
dressed to  churches  along  the  way — namely,  the 
churches  of  Ephesus,  Magnesia,  Tralles,  Philadel- 
phia, Sm3'rna,  and  Rome.  The  remaining  one  is 
addressed  to  Polycarp.  Their  date  is  about  the 
year  no  or  115.  The  information  they  afiord  re- 
garding the  institutions  and  organizations  of  the 
Church  at  this  time,  and  the  heresies  which  were 
beginning  to  make  invasions,  renders  tliem  inval- 
uable to  the  historian.  As  offering  an  example  of 
life  and  encouragement  to  moral  heroism,  they  are 
a  part  of  our  Christian  treasures  of  honor.  Pas- 
sages conceived  in  the  most  exalted  spirit  of  mar- 
tyrdom abound.  His  bonds  he  calls  his  "  spiritual 
pearls."  Speaking  as  a  witness  of  the  faith,  he 
says,  with  startling  boldness,  **  I  am  a  word  of 
God  !  "  Carried  to  a  lofty  height  of  spiritual  vision, 
he  exclaims,  *' Nothing  visible  is  good  !  "  As  show- 
ing how  fervent  the  spirit  of  martyrdom  had  be- 
come and  what  idea  animated  it,  a  passage  of  some 
length  may  be  justifiable:  "  The  farthest  bounds 
of  the  universe,"  he  writes  to  the  Romans,  ''  shall 
profit  me  nothing,  neither  the  kingdoms  of   this 


The  Afostolic  Fathers.  11 

world.  It  is  good  for  me  to  die  for  Jesus  Christ 
rather  than  to  reign  over  the  farthest  bounds  of  the 
earth.  Him  I  seek,  who  died  on  our  behalf;  him 
I  desire,  who  rose  again  for  our  sake.  The  pangs 
of  a  new  birth  are  upon  me.  Bear  with  me,  breth- 
ren. Do  not  hinder  me  from  living;  do  not  de- 
sire my  death.  [Spiritual  death  and  life  he  speaks 
of;  martyrdom  was  entrance  upon  true  life.]  Be- 
stow not  on  the  world  one  who  desireth  to  be  God's, 
neither  allure  him  with  material  thing's.  Suffer  me 
to  receive  the  pure  light.  When  I  come  thither, 
then  shall  I  be  a  man.  Permit  me  to  be  an  imita- 
tor of  the  passion  of  my  God." 

Grand  men  lived  in  those  times  which  tried  men's 
souls.  Ignatius  speaks  to  the  Trallians  of  their 
bishop,  "  whose  very  demeanor  is  a  great  lesson, 
while  his  gentleness  is  power — a  man  to  whom 
even  the  godless,  I  think,  pay  reverence."  Such 
a  bishop  was  Ignatius  himself.  **  Stand  thou  firm, 
as  an  anvil  when  it  is  smitten,"  are  his  words  to 
Poly  carp,  bishop  of  Smyrna,  who  was  destined  to 
follow  him  to  martyrdom.  **  A  Christian  hath  no  au- 
thority over  himself,  but  giveth  his  time  to  God." 

4.  The  Martyrdom  of  Polycarp. 

This  is  a  letter  from  the  church  of  Smyrna  to 
the  church  of  Philomelium,  and  thence  to  the 
Church  at  large,  giving  an  account  of  the  bishop's 
death  for  the  faith.  The  description  of  his  hero- 
ism must  be  given  in  the  words  of  this  earlv  epis- 
tle.    ''As  Polycarp  entered  the  stadium,''    \t  re- 


22  The  Chu7'-ch  of  the  Fathers. 

lates,  "a  voice  came  to  him  from  heaven:  'Be 
strong,  Polycarp,  and  play  the  man.'  And  no  one 
saw  the  speaker,  but  those  of  our  people  who  were 
present  heard  the  voice.  And  at  length,  when  he 
was  brought  up,  there  was  a  great  tumult,  for  they 
heard  that  Polycarp  had  been  apprehended.  When 
then  he  was  brought  before  him,  the  proconsul  in- 
quired whether  he  were  the  man.  And  on  his  con- 
fessing that  he  was,  he  tried  to  persuade  him  to  a 
denial,  saying,  '  Have  respect  to  thine  age,'  and 
other  things  in  accordance  therewith,  as  it  is  their 
wont  to  say:  '  Swear  by  the  genius  of  Cassar;  re- 
pent, and  say.  Away  with  the  atheists.'  Then 
Polycarp  with  solemn  countenance  looked  upon 
the  whole  multitude  of  lawless  heathen  that  were 
in  the  stadium,  and  waved  his  hand  to  them;  and 
groaning  and  looking  up  to  heaven,  he  said,  'Away 
with  the  atheists.'  But  when  the  magistrate  pressed 
him  hard  and  said,  '  Swear  the  oath,  and  I  will  re- 
lease thee ;  revile  the  Christ,'  Polycarp  said :  '  Four- 
score and  six  years  have  I  been  his  servant,  and  he 
hath  done  me  no  wrong.  How  then  can  I  blaspheme 
my  King  who  saved  me  ?  '  Whereupon  the  procon- 
sul said:  '  I  have  wild  beasts  here,  and  I  will  throw 
thee  to  them,  except  thou  repent.'  But  he  said: 
'  Call  for  them  ;  for  the  repentance  from  better  to 
worse  is  a  change  not  permitted  to  us;  but  it  is  a 
noble  thing  to  change  from  untowardness  to  right- 
eousness.' Then  he  said  to  him  again:  'I  will 
cause  thee  to  be  consumed  by  fire,  if  thou  despis- 
est  the  wild  beasts,  unless  thou  repent.'     But  Poly- 


The  Apostolic  Father^,  23 

carp  said :  *  Thou  threatenest  that  fire  which  burn- 
eth  for  a  season,  and  after  a  little  while  is  quenched ; 
for  thou  art  ignorant  of  the  fire  of  the  future  judg- 
ment and  eternal  punishment,  which  is  reserved 
for  the  ungodly.  But  why  delayest  thou  ?  Come 
do  what  thou  wilt.'  " 

Then,  pursued  by  the  outcries  of  the  pagan  popu- 
lace, who  shouted,  ''  This  is  the  teacher  of  Asia, 
the  father  of  the  Christians,  the  puller  down  of  our 
gods,  who  teacheth  numbers  not  to  sacrifice  nor 
worship,"  he  v/as  brought  and  bound  to  the  stake, 
"  like  a  noble  ram  out  of  a  great  flock  for  an  offer- 
ing." This  martyrdom  occurred  abouttheyear  155, 
and  this  is  the  approximate  date  of  the  epistle. 

5.  The  Teaching  of  the  Apostles. 

This  document,  commonly  called  by  its  Greek 
title — "Didache,"  Teaching — is  fitly  described  as 
the  oldest  church  manual,  or  discipline.  Its  date 
is  variously  given  by  scholars  from  A.D.  70  to 
A.D.  160.  It  is  based  upon  an  older  work,  a 
moral  treatise  known  as  *' The  Two  Ways,"  and 
its  growth,  after  the  fashion  of  church  manuals, 
may  have  extended  through  a  century.  Though 
it  exists  in  an  eleventh  century  manuscript,  it  was 
not  brought  to  light  until  some  twenty  years  ago. 
Its  importance  in  showing  that  the  emphasis  was 
still  placed  upon  the  manner  of  life,  not  upon 
speculations,  and  in  throwing  light  upon  the  gov- 
ernment and  ceremonies  of  the  growing  Church, 
is  very  great.     Memorable  sayings  occur.     Wit> 


24  The  Church  of  the  leathers, 

such  a  one  it  begins:  *'  There  are  two  wa3's,  one 
of  life  and  one  of  death,  and  there  is  a  great 
difference  between  the  two."  Regarding  ahns- 
receiving  and  almsgiving,  it  says:  '*  Woe  to  him 
that  receiveth;  ...  he  that  hath  no  need  shall 
give  satisfaction  why  and  wherefore  he  received." 
Judgment  in  giving  is  thus  enjoined:  **Let  thine 
alms  sweat  into  thine  hands  until  thou  shalt  have 
learned  to  whom  to  give."  One  petition  contains 
the  yearning  of  the  age:  *'  May  grace  come,  and 
may  this  world  pass  away."  Reasonableness 
characterizes  its  virtuous  requirements.  *'  If  thou 
art  able,'  it  says,  *'  to  bear  the  whole  yoke  of  the 
Lord,  thou  shalt  be  perfect;  but  if  thou  art  not 
able,  do  that  which  thou  canst." 

6.  The  Epistle  to  Diognetus. 

The  authorship  of  this  epistle,  one  of  the  noblest 
monuments  of  early  Christian  literature,  is  un- 
known, and  the  date  very  uncertain.  It  was  prob- 
ably written  about  the  year  150,  and  addressed  to 
the  illustrious  pagan  emperor  and  moralist,  Marcus 
Aurelius,  under  the  appellation  of  *'  Heaven-born." 
It  may  be  regarded  as  an  apology,  or  defense,  of 
Christianity.  It  is  therefore  of  an  argumentative 
and  philosophical  character.  Written  probably 
from  Alexandria,  it  is  strongly  tinged  by  Hellenic 
conceptions,  and  glows  with  the  lofty  eloquence 
which  characterized  the  Alexandrians  above  all 
others.  The  author  is  indeed  a  forerunner  of 
those  master  spirits  of  the  Hellenic  Egyptian  capi- 


T]ie  Apostolic  Feathers.  25 

tal — Clement  and  Origen — as  he  is  a  successor  of 
Philo  and  Apollos. 

The  treatise  is  brief,  containing  but  twelve  short 
chapters.  Of  this  noble  appeal  to  a  noble  emperor, 
one  of  these  chapters  seems  all  too  little  to  trans- 
fer to  our  pages ;  but  that  may  induce  the  reader 
to  desire  a  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  whole. 
Employing  the  strongest  argument  of  all  for  the 
Christian  religion — the  lives  of  its  professors — the 
lofty  passage  runs  as  follows :  *'  For  Christians  are 
not  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  mankind  either 
in  locality  or  in  speech  or  in  customs.  For  they 
dwell  not  somewhere  in  cities  of  their  own,  neither 
do  they  use  some  different  language,  nor  practice 
any  extraordinary  kind  of  life.  Nor  again  do  they 
possess  any  invention  discovered  by  any  intelli- 
gence or  study  of  ingenious  men,  nor  are  they 
masters  of  any  human  dogma  as  some  are.  But 
while  they  dwell  in  cities  of  Greeks  and  barba- 
rians as  the  lot  of  each  is  cast,  and  follow  the 
native  customs  in  dress  and  food  and  the  other  ar- 
rangements in  life,  yet  the  constitution  of  their  own 
citizenship,  vv^hich  they  set  forth,  is  marvelous,  and 
confessedly  contradicts  expectation.  They  dw^ell 
in  their  own  countries,  but  only  as  sojourners;  they 
bear  their  share  in  all  things  as  citizens,  and  they 
endure  all  hardships  as  strangers.  Every  foreign 
country  is  a  fatherland  to  them,  and  every  father- 
land is  foreign.  They  marry  like  all  other  men, 
and  they  beget  children ;  but  they  do  not  cast  away 
their  offspring.     They  have  their  meals  in  com- 


26  The  Chzi7'ch  of  the  Fathers, 

mon,  but  not  their  wives.  They  find  themselves 
in  the  flesh,  and  yet  they  live  not  after  the  flesh. 
Their  existence  is  on  earth,  but  their  citizenship  is 
in  heaven.  They  obey  the  established  laws,  and 
they  surpass  the  laws  in  their  own  lives.  They 
love  all  men,  and  they  are  persecuted  by  all.  They 
are  ignored,  and  yet  they  are  condemned.  They 
are  put  to  death,  and  yet  they  are  indued  with  life. 
They  are  in  beggary,  and  yet  they  make  many 
rich.  They  are  in  want  of  all  things,  and  yet  they 
abound  in  all  things.  They  are  dishonored,  and 
yet  they  are  glorified  in  their  dishonor.  They  are 
evil  spoken  of,  and  yet  they  are  vindicated.  They 
are  reviled,  and  they  bless;  they  are  insulted,  and 
they  respect.  Doing  good,  they  are  punished  as 
evildoers;  being  punished,  they  rejoice,  as  if  they 
were  thereby  quickened  by  life.  War  is  waged 
against  them  as  aliens  by  the  Jews,  and  persecu- 
tion is  carried  on  against  them  by  the  Greeks,  and 
yet  those  that  hate  them  cannot  tell  the  reason  of 
their  hostility." 

It  can  be  seen  from  these  manifestoes  of  the 
proud,  the  soaring  and  rejoicing  spirit  of  humble 
men  made  heroes  by  a  sublime  faith  and  a  new 
reading  of  the  universe ,  why  Christianity  conquered 
the  world. 

7.  The  Shepherd  of  Hermas. 

The  longest  of  all  the  writings  of  the  Apostolic 
Fathers  is  this  beautiful  allegory  of  Christian  life. 
'*The  Shepherd  of    Hermas"  is  the  «* Pilgrim's 


The  Apostolic  leathers.  27 

Progress  "  of  the  early  Church.  Indeed,  its  honor 
was  still  higher.  It  was  read  in  the  churches,  and 
revered  as  an  inspired  book  for  several  centuries. 
Origen  calls  it  *'  a  very  useful  scripture,  and  in  my 
opinion  divinely  inspired."  It  was  written  about 
A.D.  140-150,  though  parts  may  be  considerably 
older.  Hermas  is  the  name  of  the  narrator  in  the 
allegory,  not  of  the  author,  who  is  unknown ;  and 
the  "Shepherd"  is  Christ,  It  consists  of  three 
parts:  ''Visions,"  ''Mandates,"  and  "Parables." 
Literary  skill,  beauty  of  imagery,  and  imagination 
render  it  interesting,  while  its  teachings  and  ex- 
hortations render  it  profitable,  even  to  a  modern 
reader.  A  few  passages  in  illustration  may  be 
given:  "As  I  was  journeying  to  Cumag,  and  glori- 
fying God's  creatures  for  their  greatness  and 
splendor  and  power,  as  I  walked  I  fell  asleep. 
And  a  spirit  took  me,  and  bore  me  away  through  a 
pathless  tract,  through  which  no  man  could  pass: 
for  the  place  was  precipitous,  and  broken  into 
clefts  by  reason  of  the  waters.  When  then  I  had 
crossed  the  river,  I  came  into  the  level  country, 
and  knelt  down  and  began  to  pray  to  the  Lord  and 
to  confess  my  sins."  And  as  he  prayed  his  first 
vision  appeared  to  him.  This  opening  of  the  al- 
legory of  Hermas  might  be  interestingly  compared 
with  the  opening  of  Bunyan's:  "As  I  walked 
through  the  wilderness  of  this  world,"  etc. 

The  requirements  set  forth  in  the  Mandates  by 
the  Shepherd  seem  too  high  for  Hermas's  keep- 
ing:   "I  say  to  him,  'Sir,  these  commandments 


28  The  Church  of  the  leathers. 

are  great  and  beautiful  and  glorious,  and  are  able 
to  gladden  the  heart  of  the  man  who  is  able  to  ob- 
serve them.  But  I  know  not  whether  these  com- 
mandments can  be  kept  by  a  man,  for  they  are 
very  hard.'  He  answered  and  said  unto  me:  'If 
thou  set  it  before  th3^self  that  the}'  can  be  kept, 
thou  wilt  easily  keep  them,  and  they  will  not  be 
hard;  but  if  it  once  enter  into  thy  heart  that  they 
cannot  be  kept  by  a  man,  thou  v/jlt  not  keep 
them.'" 

The  contrast  between  earthly  possessions  and 
treasures  in  heaven,  which  are  Christian  works, 
is  impressively  set  forth:  *' Therefore,  instead  of 
fields  buy  ye  souls  that  are  in  trouble,  as  each  is 
able,  and  visit  widows  and  orphans,  and  neglect 
them  not;  and  spend  your  riches  and  all  your  dis- 
plays, which  ye  receive  from  God,  on  fields  and 
houses  of  this  kind.  For  to  this  end  the  Master 
enriched  you,  that  ye  might  perform  these  minis- 
trations for  him.  It  is  much  better  to  purchase 
fields  and  houses  of  this  kind,  which  thou  wilt  find 
in  thine  own  cit}^,  when  thou  visitest  it.  This  lav- 
ish expenditure  is  beautiful  and  joyous,  not  bring- 
ing sadness  or  fear,  but  bringing  joy." 

This  is  the  interpretation  of  his  first  parable. 
The  exhortation  of  another,  in  which  the  Church  is 
represented  under  the  type  of  a  tower  which  is  being 
builded  of  materials  of  many  kinds  and  by  many 
workmen,  concludes:  "Amend  yourselves,  there- 
fore, while  the  tower  is  still  in  course  of  building. 
The  Lord  dwelleth  in  men  that  love  peace,  for  to 


The  Apostolic  leathers.  29 

him  peace  is  dear;  but  from  the  contentious  and 
them  that  are  given  up  to  wickedness  he  keepeth 
afar  off.  Restore,  therefore,  to  him  your  spirit 
whole  as  ye  received  it." 

Truths  precious  always  to  be  remembered,  and 
precepts  we  need  always  to  ponder,  are  sown  in 
these  pages,  fully  accounting  for  the  high  esteem 
in  which  the  early  Church  held  the  beautiful  alle- 
gory. *' Blessed  are  all  they  that  work  righteous- 
ness." "  Do  no  wickedness  in  thy  life,  and  serve 
the  Lord  with  a  pure  heart."  *'  The  righteous  man 
entertaineth  righteous  purposes."  **  Put  away  sor- 
row from  thyself,  for  she  is  the  sister  of  double- 
mindedness  and  of  angry  temper."  *'  Clothe  thy- 
self in  cheerfulness." 

8.  Miscellaneous  Writings. 

Besides  some  fragments  of  Papias,  who  was  born 
about  A.D.  60-70,  and  a  few  pages  of  quotations 
from  the  Elders  by  Irenseus,  there  remain  to  us  fur- 
ther of  this  second  generation  of  disciples  two  epis- 
tles: the  Epistle  of  Polycarp,  written  to  the  Phi- 
lippians  shortly  after  the  martyrdom  of  Ignatius — 
that  is,  about  A.D.  115  ;  and  the  Epistle  of  Barna- 
bas, which  was  written  in  opposition  to  Judaizing 
influences  that  were  prevalent.  "  I  know  that  the 
Lord  journeyed  with  me  on  the  way  of  righteous- 
ness," he  says;  and  now  to  his  spiritual  sons  and 
daughters  he  writes:  "  I  was  eager  to  send  you  a 
trifle,  that  along  with  your  faith  ye  might  have  your 
knowledge  also  perfect." 


30  The  Chu7'ch  of  the  Fathers. 

It  remains,  in  the  briefest  space,  to  express  an 
estimate  of  these  Apostolic  Fathers.  A  saying  of 
Papias  (^lohannis auditor ^  as  Jerome  calls  him)  re- 
veals how  they  prized  their  nearness  to  the  Lord 
Christ  and  their  immediacy  to  the  apostles.  Above 
written  records  they  placed,  as  he  says,  "the  liv- 
ing voice  clearly  sounding  up  to  the  present  day." 
But  even  above  the  living  voice  which  was  from 
without  was  the  living  voice  which  spoke  within. 
Clement,  exhorting  the  Corinthians  to  gentleness 
and  unity,  but  speaks  *'the  words  spoken  by  him 
[Christ]  through  us."  And  Ignatius  to  the  Ro- 
mans: "I  write  not  unto  you  after  the  flesh,  but 
after  the  mind  of  God." 

The  doctrine,  well  founded  in  Scripture,  of  the 
indwelling  of  Christ,  **the  mind  of  the  Father" 
(Ignatius)  in  the  hearts  of  believers,  was  the  sup- 
port of  this  claim.  Besides,  their  experiences  of 
the  life  of  God  in  their  lives  made  them  conscious 
of  the  inspiration  which  gave  them  the  utterance 
of  truths  hidden  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
A  newness  of  life  and  a  working  of  divine  power 
in  them  constituted  a  firm  basis  for  speaking  with 
authority  and  with  full  assurance  of  rightness.  It 
is  not  strange  that  they  should  affirm,  not  obtrusive- 
ly but  as  a  matter  of  course  and  as  no  unique  thing, 
their  inspiration  for  the  service  they  were  called  to 
render   he  Church. 

Their  manner  of  speaking  otherwise  retains  the 
character  of  the  earlier  writers.  In  bold,  figura- 
tive, and  variable  language — not  in  the  cold,  hard 


The  Apostolic  leathers.  31 

forms  of  science — they  spoke  of  God  and  of  Christ 
and  of  the  redemption  that  had  been  wrought. 
Their  utterance  was  free  and  large  ;  for  their  lives 
were  the  books  which  taught  them,  and  their  lives 
had  been  suddenly  and  gloriously  expanded.  Their 
thoughts  were  fixed  upon  supreme  realities,  not 
many,  but  vast — truths  of  no  narrow  bounds  and 
incapable  yet  of  creedal  confinement.  The  power 
of  the  gospel,  its  living  witness  in  a  new  creation, 
was  in  them;  they  were  united  with  God  and  in 
conscious  harmony  with  the  divine  order;  this  ex- 
perience was  all-satisfying.  No  speculative  sys- 
tem did  they  labor  to  produce,  though  many  far- 
reaching  and  lofty  ideas  escaped  them,  their  imag- 
inative thought  taking  momentary  flight  to  highest 
regions.  No  rigid  creed  is  elaborated;  the  need 
of  it  existed  not  yet;  the  simple  confessions  of  the 
earlier  day  still  sufficed. 

Nevertheless  the  mind  of  the  age  was  moving. 
Expanding  life  forces  expanded  thought.  New 
and  larger  statements  of  old  truths,  which  are  ever 
becoming  new  and  richer,  must  be  made.  We  can 
discern  the  operation  of  this  law  in  the  records  be- 
fore us. 

While  moral  instruction  plainly  appears  as  the 
chief  intention  of  these  writers,  yet  a  development 
of  theoretic  doctrine  concerning  the  providence  of 
God,  the  mission  of  Christ,  the  nature  of  ceremo- 
nies and  offices,  and  the  government  of  the  Church 
is  evinced.  Later  chapters  of  our  story  must  be 
depended  upon  to  reveal  the  extent  and  character 


32  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

of  this  development.  Suffice  it  here  to  say  that  we 
have  in  these  writings  invaluable  monuments  of  an 
obscure  period  of  Christian  history.  What  was  the 
earliest  teaching,  after  the  apostles,  concerning 
Christ,  his  life  and  death  and  redemptive  work? 
Concerning  the  Holy  Spirit  and  inspiration  ?  Con- 
cerning repentance,  salvation,  and  grace?  Con- 
cerning sacraments — the  Lord's  Supper  and  bap- 
tism— presbyters  and  deacons?  To  find  answers 
to  these  and  like  questions,  we  have  but  the  *'Apos- 
toHc  Fathers." 

Likewise  they  reveal  the  state  of  the  Church, 
its  divergent  tendencies  and  its  dangers,  its  inward 
strifes  and  outward  foes,  its  animating  hope,  its 
lofty  aim,  and  its  proud  consciousness  of  a  unique 
and  glorious  mission.  There  is  a  ring  of  triumph 
even  in  the  lamentations  and  pleadings  which  are 
wrung  from  the  suffering  sect.  The  persecutions 
of  Nero  and  of  Domitian,  those  first  baptisms  of 
fire  and  blood,  had  been  safely  passed  through, 
and  its  faith  was  confirmed  by  the  trials,  its  cour- 
age was  heightened,  its  life  was  made  to  be  more 
abounding,  its  boasting  more  exultant.  The  young 
Church,  now  composed  of  the  second  and  third 
generations  of  believers,  was  conscious  not  only 
of  its  own  invincibility,  but  of  its  future  mastery  of 
the  world. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

"The  Apostolic  Fathers."  Revised  Texts,  with  Short  In- 
troductions and  English  Translations.  J.  B.  Lightfoot.  Mac- 
niillan  and  Company,  New  York.     One  vol.,  8vo;  pp.  569. 


THE  APOLOGISTS. 


"We  do  not  find  felicity  in  the  veins  of  the  eartn,  where  we 
seek  for  gold,  nor  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  where  we  fish  for 
pearl;  but  in  a  pure  and  untainted  mind,  which,  if  it  were  not 
holy,  were  not  fit  to  entertain  the  deity. 

"A  great,  a  good,  and  a  right  mind  is  a  kind  of  divinity 
lodged  in  flesh;  it  came  from  heaven,  and  to  heaven  it  must 
return;  and  it  is  a  kind  of  heavenly  felicity  which  a  pure  and 
virtuous  mind  enjoys,  in  some  degree,  even  upon  earth;  where- 
as temples  of  honor  are  but  empty  names,  which  probably 
owe  their  beginning  either  to  ambition  or  to  violence.  I  am 
strangely  transported  with  the  thoughts  of  eternity.     .     .     . 

"  Our  hands  need  not  to  be  lifted  up  to  heaven,  nor  the  sac- 
ristan entreated  to  put  us  on  speaking  terms  with  the  image 
that  we  may  be  the  better  heard.  God  is  nigh  unto  thee,  he  is 
with  thee,  he  is  within  thee.  Thus  I  tell  thee,  Lucilius;  a  sa- 
cred spirit  is  resident  in  us,  an  observer  and  guardian  both  of 
v/hat  is  good  and  what  is  evil  in  us,  and  in  like  manner  as  we 
use  him  so  he  useth  us.  There  is  no  good  man  but  hath  a  God 
within  him." — Seneca. 

"  He,  then,  who  has  observed  with  intelligence  the  admin- 
istration of  the  world  has  learned  that  the  greatest  and  su- 
preme and  the  most  comprehensive  community  is  that  which 
is  composed  of  men  and  God,  and  that  from  God  have  descend- 
ed the  seeds  not  only  to  my  father  and  grandfather,  but  to  all 
beings  which  are  generated  on  the  earth  and  are  produced, 
and  particularly  to  rational  beings — for  those  only  are  \iy  their 
nature  formed  to  have  communion  with  God,  being  by  means 
of  reason  conjoined  with  him — why  should  not  such  a  man 
call  himself  a  citizen  of  the  Avorld,  why  not  a  son  of  God,  and 
why  should  he  be  afraid  of  anything  which  happens  among 
men?  Is  kinship  with  Caesar  or  with  any  other  of  the  power- 
ful in  Rome  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  live  in  safety,  and  above 
contempt,  and  without  any  fear  at  all.''  And  to  have  God  for 
our  maker  and  father  and  guardian,  shall  not  this  release  us 
from  sorrows  and  fears?" — Efictetiis, 

(34) 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  APOLOGISTS. 

SECOND  AND  THIRD  CENTURIES. 

"The  Eternal  Wisdom  has  manifested  itself  in  all  things, 
especially  in  the  human  mind,  and  most  of  all  in  Jesus  Christ." 
— Spinoza. 

"  These  Christian  philosophers  formulated  the  content  of  the 
gospel  in  a  manner  which  appealed  to  the  common  sense  of 
all  the  serious  thinkers  and  intelligent  men  of  the  age." — Har- 
nack. 

"It  is  our  task,  therefore,  to  furnish  all  an  exposition  of  our 
life  and  doctrines." — Justin  Martyr. 

Those  gladiators  of  the  faith  who  by  their  pens 
defended  Christianity  against  the  arguments,  and 
more  frequently  the  slanders,  of  Jews  and  pagans, 
and  the  false  doctrines  of  heretics,  are  known  as 
the  apologists.  Their  endeavor  was  to  support 
their  faith  by  representing  it  as  a  philosophy. 
To  them  Christianity  was  the  one  consummate 
philosophy  sanctioned  and  approved  by  Heaven — 
a  religious  enlightenment  proceeding  from  God. 
The  contemporaneous  development  of  Greek  phi- 
losophy in  the  schools  of  Athens  and  Alexandria 
made  possible  and  gave  impetus  to  a  transforma- 
tion of  the  simple  religion  of  the  Nazarene  into 
a  theory  of  the  universe — a  philosophy.  For  the 
most  part  the  apologists  were  learned  Greeks  who, 
in  search  of  a  satisfying  scheme  of  providence  and 
an   explanation   of   the  moral    phenomena  of  the 

(35) 


^6  The  Church  of  the  Fathei's. 

world,  were  turned  by  the  ancient  prophets  of  Is- 
rael to  Christ  and  the  gospel.  They  belonged  in 
general  to  the  second  century,  although  the  great- 
est of  all  (Origen)  belongs  to  the  third.  Their  de- 
fenses against  pagan  misrepresentations  were  ad- 
dressed commonly  to  the  Roman  emperors,  but 
some  were  addressed  to  private  individuals  and 
some  generally  to  nations. 

The  aim  of  the  apologists  was  to  inform  the  em- 
perors concerning  the  life  and  doctrines  of  the 
Christians  and  to  show  how  unjustly  they  were 
persecuted.  Addressing  cultured  men  who  them- 
selves made  pretensions  to  philosophy,  they  wrote 
in  the  character  of  philosophers  and  as  friends  of 
the  truth  wherever  found.  The  supreme  claim 
they  have  to  make  for  Christianity  is  not  its  nov- 
elty, for  it  is  as  old  as  the  foundation  of  the  world; 
not  its  uniqueness,  for  it  is  implanted  in  the  uni- 
versal nature  of  man ;  not  its  supernatural  charac- 
ter, for  it  is  rational  and,  in  fragments,  exists  in 
the  minds  of  all  men ;  their  supreme  claim  is  that 
a  divine  and  unmistakable  sanction  to  its  doctrines, 
the  truths  implanted  in  man  and  grounded  in  the 
constitution  of  tlie  universe,  has  been  given  in  Je- 
sus Christ,  the  Word  become  flesh.  The  content 
of  their  philosophy  was  not  new;  the  form  was, 
and  above  all  things  was  convincing.  The  guar- 
antee of  truth,  the  confirmation  of  men's  belief  in 
God  and  of  immortality,  was  found  in  the  gospel. 

The  apologists,  therefore,  endeavor  to  present  a 
doctrine  of  the  Logos  which  shall  explain  how  the 


The  Apologists,  37 

Greeks  were  able  to  utter  such  great  truths  as  to 
be  found  in  such  agreement  on  essential  matters 
with  the  prophets  of  Israel  and  the  Christians. 
One  principle  of  enlightenment,  the  Logos,  or 
Reason,  of  God,  had  worked  in  all.  This  wis- 
dom, says  Minucius  Felix,  "is  begotten  with  the 
very  formation  of  the  mind";  for  Christ,  accord- 
ing to  their  conception,  is  the  rational  principle  of 
the  universe.  From  the  same  apologist  another 
memorable  saying  gives  the  general  attitude  of 
all  these  learned  defenders  of  the  faith:  "I  have 
set  forth  the  opinions,"  he  says,  ''of  almost  all 
the  philosophers  whose  more  illustrious  glory  it 
is  to  have  pointed  out  that  there  is  one  God, 
although  with  many  names;  so  that  any  one 
might  think  either  that  Christians  are  now  phi- 
losophers or  that  philosophers  were  then  already 
Christians." 

As  we  pass  the  apologists  in  review  it  must  oc- 
cur to  the  reader  that  Christianity  was  now  en- 
gaging either  for  or  against  itself  the  educated 
world.  The  apologists  figure  as  philosophers  and 
learned  men. 

Quadratus,  bishop  of  Athens,  "a  man  of  under- 
standing and  of  apostolic  faith,"  as  Eusebius  calls 
him,  has  the  honor  of  being  the  first  Christian 
apologist.  His  appeal  was  addressed  to  Emperor 
Hadrian,  about  A.D.  126.  Only  a  quotation  by 
Eusebius  remains. 

Aristides,  a  converted  philosopher  of  Athens, 
addressed  an  apology  to  the  same  emperor  about 


38  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

the  same  time.  His  work  remains,  a  noble  monu- 
ment of  the  subhmity  of  early  Christian  thought. 
Its  opening  is  well  worth  quoting  here:  ''I,  O 
king,  in  the  providence  of  God  came  into  the  world 
and  when  I  had  considered  the  heaven  and  the 
earth,  the  sun  and  the  moon  and  the  rest,  I  mar- 
veled at  their  orderly  arrangement."  Thus  does 
he  introduce  to  the  mind  of  the  emperor  the 
thought  of  a  ruling  God  and  of  an  informing, 
creative  Logos,  or  Reason. 

Mehto,  bishop  of  Sardis;  Apollinaris,  bishop  of 
Hieropolis;  Miltiades,  ''Advocate  of  the  Church- 
es"; Athenagoras,  Athenian  philosopher;  and 
Justin  Martyr,  most  illustrious  of  all,  wrote  apolo- 
gies which  they  addressed  to  Antoninus  Pius  and 
Marcus  Aurelius. 

These  all  used  the  Greek  language  and  Greek 
ideas.  Their  arguments  center  about  the  Greek 
conception  of  a  divine  Logos.  Athenagoras, 
whose  "Plea  for  the  Christians"  and  "The  Res- 
urrection of  the  Dead"  are  typical  apologies, 
brings  forth  all  the  resources  of  Greek  poetry  and 
Greek  philosophy  to  establish  the  Christian  inter- 
pretation of  the  world.  That  true  wisdom  is  only 
by  revelation,  is  his  fundamental  tenet.  The 
prophets  wrote  as  they  were  "guided  by  the' Spir- 
it of  God,  who  moved  their  mouths  like  musical 
instruments."  The  one  God  is  acknowledged  by 
the  wisest  Greeks,  likew^ise  the  unity  and  orderli- 
ness of  the  universe.  The  Logos  of  God,  which  is 
his  Son,  manifested  in  Christ,  alone  explains  the 


The  Apologists.  39 

cosmos — the  rational  and  beautiful  order.  *'God, 
who  is  the  eternal  mind,  had  the  Logos  in  himself, 
being  from  eternity  instinct  with  Logos.  The 
Son  of  God  is  the  Logos  of  the  Father  in  idea  and 
in  operation."  The  historical  personage,  Jesus, 
is  little  thought  about:  the  whole  endeavor  is  to 
fix  ideas. 

''The  intellectual  culture  of  mankind  now  ap- 
pears reconciled  with  religion."  (Harnack.) 
The  development  of  philosophical  ideas  among 
the  Greeks  and  the  development  of  religious  ideas 
among  the  Hebrews  met  like  confluent  streams 
never  again  to  be  separated. 

Other  apologists  of  distinction  were  Tatian,  a 
disciple  of  Justin,  whose  defense  is  entitled  "An 
Address  to  the  Greeks"  ;  and  Theophilus,  bishop 
of  Antioch,  whose  defense  is  addressed  to  Auto- 
lychus. 

All  of  these  apologies,  except  that  of  Quadra- 
tus  and  of  Melito — of  which  only  fragments  re- 
main— and  of  Miltiades,  have  been  transmitted  to 
us  and  are  accessible  to  the  English  readers  in 
''The  Ante-Nicene  Fathers." 

Later,  Minucius  Felix  and  Tertullian,  both  ju- 
risconsults of  North  Africa,  used  the  Latin  lan- 
guage in  the  defense  of  Christianity  in  the  West. 
Of  Tertullian,  as  also  of  Origen,  a  fuller  treatment 
is  reserved  for  another  chapter.  They  in  their  re- 
spective later  generations  stand  out  preeminently 
great,  as  another,  whom  we  shall  here  dwell  upon 
for  awhile    does  in  this. 


40  The  Church  of  the  Fathers . 

I.  Justin  Martyr. 
Some  one  usually  gathers  up  in  himself  the 
ideas  and  forces  of  his  age,  and  gives  them,  both 
in  his  life  and  his  works,  their  consummate  ex- 
pression. He  thereby  becomes  in  the  truest  sense 
a  representative  man.  Such,  in  the  age  when 
Christianity  was  fighting  for  the  recognition  of  the 
cultured  and  the  governing  classes,  was  Justin — 
surnamed,  because  of  his  fidelity  even  unto  death, 
"the  Martyr."  Taking  this  defender  of  the  faitli 
against  both  pagans  and  Jews  as  the  exponent 
of  his  class — as  he  truly  is — and  as  perhaps  the 
greatest  of  them,  we  may  with  profit  dwell  upon 
his  writings  and  his  career. 

Born  about  A.D.  no,  of  Greek  or  of  Roman 
parents,  it  is  uncertain  which,  in  Samaria,  near  Ja- 
cob's Well,  he  received  doubtless  the  usual  liberal 
education  which  well-to-do  and  cultured  families 
gave  their  sons.  This  seems  to  have  been  supple- 
mented, as  was  also  customary,  by  travel.  His 
thirst  for  the  true  philosophy — that  which  should 
give  a  knowledge  of  God  and  of  duty — was  eager 
and  not  to  be  easily  satisfied.  In  this,  too,  he  rep- 
resented the  nobler  pagan  mind  of  the  age.  A 
potent  spirit  was  universally  at  work  among  men 
which  caused  them  to  seek  the  word  of  God. 

Justin  relates  his  experience  so  interestingly 
that  I  can  do  no  better  than  give  it  in  his  own 
words,  somewhat  condensed.  He  surrendered 
himself  first,  he  says,  to  a  certain  Stoic:  and  hav- 
ing spent  a  considerable  time  with  him  cnly  to  find 


The  Apologists.  41 

he  was  gaining  no  further  knowledge  of  God,  he 
left  him  and  betook  himself  to  a  peripatetic — a 
shrewd  man,  as  he  fancied.  ''And  this  man,"  he 
says,  "after  having  entertained  me  for  the  first 
few^  days,  requested  me  to  settle  the  fee,  in  order 
that  our  intercourse  might  be  profitable."  He 
abandoned  this  peripatetic  as  no  philosopher  at  all. 
His  eager  desire  for  the  peculiar  and  choice  phi- 
losophy, which  must  exist,  he  thought,  somew^here, 
brought  him  to  a  celebrated  Pythagorean — ''  a  man 
thought  much  of  in  wisdom."  But  this  sage  re- 
quired too  much  of  him  in  the  way  of  knowledge 
of  music,  astronomy,  and  geometry,  in  order  that 
his  pupil  might  be  able  to  contemplate  what  is 
honorable  and  good  in  its  essence,  and  finally,  by 
being  weaned  from  sensible  objects,  arrive  at  a 
happy  fife.  The  master  dismissed  him  as  unpre- 
pared. Next  he  sought  the  Platonists,  ''for  their 
fame  was  great."  Under  their  instruction  he  pro- 
gressed and  made  the  greatest  improvement  daily. 
"The  perception  of  immaterial  things  quite  over- 
powered me,  and  the  contemplation  of  ideas  fur- 
nished my  mind  with  wings,  so  that  in  a  little 
while  I  supposed  that  I  had  become  wise;  and 
such  was  my  stupidity,  I  expected  forthwith  to 
look  upon  God,  for  this  is  the  end  of  Plato's  phi- 
losophy. 

Such  was  the  search,  ardent,  sincere,  and  per- 
sistent, for  satisfying  truth.  It  was  the  common 
experience  of  the  loftiest  minds  of  that  age.  The 
majority  of  apologists  knew  the  teachings  of  the 


42  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

pagan  schools  by  experience;  they  knew  them, 
and  found  them  either  false  or  insufficient.  Their 
thirst  for  the  living  truth,  a  fountain  of  life,  drove 
them,  as  the  furies  in  the  myth  drove  Orestes, 
from  city  to  city  and  from  land  to  land.  This 
is  a  high  tribute  which  Justin  pays  to  Plato,  whose 
ideas  could  "furnish  his  mind  with  wings."  There 
were  not  a  few  whom  the  Platonic  philosophy 
prepared  in  this  century,  as  later  it  prepared  Au- 
gustine, for  the  acceptance  of  Christian  teach- 
ing. We  will  let  Justin  himself  relate  how  his 
conversion  was  brought  about:  "And  while  I  was 
thus  disposed,"  he  continues,  "when  I  wished  at 
one  period  to  be  hlled  with  great  quietness,  and  to 
shun  the  path  of  men,  I  used  to  go  in  a  certain 
field  not  far  from  the  sea.  And  when  I  was  near 
that  spot  one  day,  w^hich  having  reached  I  pur- 
posed to  be  by  myself,  a  certain  old  man,  by  no 
means  contemptible  in  appearance,  exhibiting 
meek  and  venerable  manners,  followed  me  at  a 
little  distance.  And  when  I  turned  round  to  him, 
having  halted,  I  fixed  my  eyes  rather  keenly  on 
him."  They  engage  in  conversation  on  the  great 
matters  which  are  in  the  minds  of  both:  the  serv- 
ice of  philosophy,  the  knowledge  of  God,  the  na- 
ture of  the  soul,  the  way  of  access  to  divine  life. 
In  the  end,  after  a  discussion  of  the  Greek  philos- 
ophers, the  old  man  speaks  as  follows:  "There 
existed,  long  before  this  time,  certain  men  more 
ancient  than  all  those  who  are  esteemed  philoso- 
phers, both  righteous  and  beloved  by  God,  who 


The  Apologists.  43 

spoke  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  foretold  events 
which  would  take  place,  and  which  are  now  tak- 
ing place.  They  are  called  prophets.  These 
alone  both  saw  and  announced  the  truth  to  men, 
neither  reverencing  nor  fearing  any  man,  not  in- 
fluenced by  a  desire  for  glory,  but  speaking  those 
things  alone  which  they  saw  and  which  they 
heard,  being  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit." 

Having  spoken  in  particular  of  the  prophecies 
concerning  Christ,  the  promised  Saviour,  the  Son 
of  God,  he  went  away,  bidding  the  truth-seeker 
think  on  his  w^ords.  ''Straightway,"  writes  Jus- 
tin, *'a  flame  was  kindled  in  my  soul;  and  a 
love  of  the  prophets,  and  of  those  men  who  are 
friends  of  Christ,  possessed  me ;  and  whilst  revolv- 
ing his  words  in  my  mind,  I  found  this  philosophy 
alone  to  be  safe  and  profitable.  Thus,  and  for 
this  reason,  I  am  a  philosopher." 

Justin  can  now  call  himself  with  truth,  he  thinks, 
a  philosopher,  since  he  has  attained  a  saving 
knowledge,  "a  clear  perception  of  truth."  In  to- 
ken of  his  claim  he  wore  throughout  life  the  phi- 
losopher's gown :  none  with  better  reason  or  great- 
er honor — for  he  knevv^  himself  to  be  teaching,  and 
not  only  teaching,  but  also  living,  as  man  can,  the 
true,  the  saving  philosophy. 

This  account  of  his  conversion  is  given  b}^  Justin 
in  his  **  Dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew\"  The  aim 
of  the  writing,  it  will  be  seen,  was  to  convince  the 
Jews  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Messiah  of  their 
prophets.     In  his  apologies,  addressed  to  the  em- 


44  The  Church  of  the  leathers. 

peror,  Justin  seeks  to  identify  the  Christ  of  the 
gospel  with  the  Logos  of  Greek  philosophy.  The 
difference  between  the  two  productions  strikes  our 
attention  and  is  very  significant.  The  method,  the 
ideas  and  arguments,  and  the  conclusions,  are  de- 
termined differently  in  each  case,  according  to 
the  different  aim.  The  endeavor  to  render  the 
gospel  intelligible  and  acceptable  to  Greek  minds, 
and  to  explain  the  relation  of  Christ  to  the  cosmos 
— the  general  system  of  things — gave  rise  to  what 
may  be  called  the  Logos  Christology  of  this  era. 
Speculation  took  the  Platonic  conception  of  a  di- 
vine Reason  (Aoyo?)  in  all  things,  and  the  Word 
(Aoyo;)  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  and,  by  the  syncre- 
tism of  philosophy  and  faith,  elaborated  this  Chris- 
tology, or  theory  of  Christ.  It  w^as  a  task  imposed 
upon  the  Christians  by  the  intellectual  conditions 
of  the  age. 

Justin  Martyr  is  the  greatest  exponent  in  his 
time  of  the  influence  of  Greek  ideas,  and  he  made 
most  use  of  them  in  his  defense  of  the  gospel. 
He  is  liberal — he  feels  he  can  afford  to  be — in  giv- 
ing credit  to  pagan  literature  for  much  true  doc- 
trine. This  is  one  of  his  lines  of  argument.  An 
extended  passage  will  illustrate :  "  If,  therefore," 
he  writes,  *'on  some  points  we  teach  the  same 
things  as  the  poets  and  philosophers  whom  you 
honor,  and  on  other  points  are  fuller  and  more 
divine  in  our  teaching,  and  if  we  alone  afford 
proof  of  what  we  assert,  why  are  we  unjustly 
hated  more  than  all  others  ?     For  while  we  say  that 


The  Apologists.  45 

all  things  have  been  produced  and  arranged  into 
a  world  by  God,  we  shall  seem  to  utter  the  doc- 
trine of  Plato ;  and  while  we  say  that  there  will  be 
a  burning  up  of  all,  we  shall  seem  to  utter  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Stoics;  and  while  we  affirm  that  the 
souls  of  the  wicked,  being  endowed  with  sensa- 
tion even  after  death,  are  punished,  and  that  those 
of  the  good,  being  delivered  from  punishment, 
spend  a  blessed  existence,  we  shall  seem  to  say 
the  same  things  as  the  poets  and  philosophers ; 
and  while  we  maintain  that  men  ought  not  to  wor- 
ship the  works  of  their  hands,  we  say  the  very  same 
things  which  have  been  said  by  the  comic  poet  Me- 
nander,  and  other  similar  writers,  for  they  have 
declared  that  the  workman  is  greater  than  the 
work." 

Wiser,  it  seems  to  me,  is  this  early  defender  of 
the  faith,  who  so  loves  truth  that  he  admits  and 
honors  it  even  when  he  finds  it  among  his  enemies, 
than  many  overzealous  defenders  at  the  present 
day,  who,  for  truth's  sake,  dare  to  be  untrue,  and, 
proclaiming  themselves  light-bearers,  are  willfully 
blind.  Justin  and  Athenagoras  could  teach  them 
a  better  way.  The  existence  among  all  nations  of 
the  true  knowledge  in  some  measure  is  explained 
by  Justin  in  these  words:  "We  have  been  taught 
that  Christ  is  the  firstborn  of  God,  and  we  have 
declared  above  that  he  is  the  Word  of  whom 
every  race  of  men  were  partakers;  and  those  who 
lived  with  reason  are  Christians,  even  though 
they  have  been  thought  atheists;   as,  among  the 


46  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Greeks,  Socrates  and  Heraclitus,  and  men  like 
them."  Thus  is  affirmed  the  unity  of  the  human 
race,  the  universality  of  God's  fatherhood  as  a 
real  thing,  and  the  effective  operation  of  Christ  in 
all  men  as  a  light  that  enlightens. 

Similar  to  the  argument  deduced  from  a  com 
parison  of  the  writings  of  pagans  and  Christians 
is  his  argument  from  a  comparison  of  Socrates 
and  Christ.  Socrates,  he  writes,  exhorted  the 
Greeks  to  become  acquainted  with  God  **by  the 
investigation  of  Reason  (Logos),  saying  "that it  is 
neither  easy  to  find  the  Father  and  Maker  of  all, 
nor,  having  found  him,  is  it  safe  to  declare  him  to 
all.  But  these  things  Christ  did  through  his  own 
power.  For  no  one  trusted  in  Socrates  so  as  to 
die  for  his  doctrine;  but  in  Christ,  w^ho  was  par- 
tially known  even  by  Socrates  (for  he  was  and  is 
the  Word  who  is  in  every  man,  and  who  foretold 
the  things  that  were  to  come  to  pass  both  through 
the  prophets  and  his  own  person  when  he  was 
made  of  like  passions,  and  taught  these  things), 
not  only  philosophers  and  scholars  believed,  but 
also  artisans  and  people  entirely  uneducated,  de- 
spising both  glory  and  fear  and  death  ;  since  he  is  a 
power  of  the  ineffable  Father,  and  not  the  mere 
instrument  of  Reason." 

Another  passage  of  like  import  with  those  al- 
ready given  is  both  so  noble  in  spirit  and  so  lofty 
in  conception  that  it  would  be  an  honor  to  any 
writer  or  any  age.  It  will  conclude  our  account 
of  the  chief  of  second  century  apologists:    "And 


The  Apologists.  47 

I  confess,"  he  writes  to  the  emperor,  "that  I  both 
boast  and  with  all  my  strength  strive  to  be  found  a 
Christian,  not  because  the  teachings  of  Plato  are 
different  from  those  of  Christ,  but  because  they 
are  not  in  all  respects  similar,  as  neither  are  those 
of  the  others.  Stoics  and  poets  and  historians. 
For  each  man  spoke  well  in  proportion  to  the 
share  he  had  of  the  spermatic  Word,  seeing  what 
was  related  to  it.  But  they  who  contradict  them- 
selves on  the  more  important  points  appear  not  to 
have  possessed  the  heavenly  wisdom  and  the  knowl- 
edge which  cannot  be  spoken  against.  Whatever 
things  zuere  rightly  said  among  all  ?nen  are  the 
-projyerty  of  us  Christians.  For,  next  to  God,  we 
worship  and  love  the  Word  who  is  from  the  un- 
begotten  and  ineffable  God,  since  he  also  be- 
came man  for  our  sakes,  that,  becoming  a  par- 
taker of  our  sufferings,  he  might  also  bring  us  heal- 
ing. For  all  the  writers  were  able  to  see  realities 
darkly  through  the  sowing  of  the  implanted  word 
that  was  in  them." 

In  thus  setting  forth  at  some  length  the  doctrine 
of  Justin  we  are  justified  by  the  consideration  that 
he  represents  the  general  educated  Christian  mind 
of  his  age.  Aristides,  *''  a  philosopher  of  the  Athe- 
nians," as  he  calls  himself;  Athenagoras,  '*the 
philosopher  of  Athens";  Tertullian  and  Minu- 
cius  Felix,  the  Roman  lawyers,  had  the  same 
views  of  the  order  and  beauty  of  the  world,  the 
nobility  of  human  nature,  the  freedom  and  ability 
of  man,  the  redemptive  goodness  of  God,  all  made 


48  The  Church  of  the  Fathei 


s. 


both  possible  and  actual  by  the  operation  of  the 
eternal  Word. 

Some  further  details  of  Justin's  teaching  cannot 
be  without  interest.  What,  it  may  be  asked,  ac- 
cording to  his  conception,  is  Christ  to  men  more 
than  Socrates?  Do  not  Justin  and  the  apologists 
generally  take  away  the  uniqueness  and  distinct- 
ive character  of  the  God-man?  By  no  means, 
they  would  answer.  For  Christ  is  not  simply  a 
channel  or  an  instrument  of  the  Logos,  not  a  per- 
son through  whom,  as  through  Socrates,  the  Log- 
os spoke,  but  he  is  the  very  Logos  itself.  The 
Fourth  Gospel  has  familiarized  us  with  such  ex- 
pressions as  ''The  Word  became  flesh,''  and  ''I 
am  the  Truth,"'  and  "the  true  Light  which  light- 
eth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world."  We 
have  here  the  two  boldest  theories  of  the  apolo- 
gists, namely,  that  the  Logos  was  bodily  incar- 
nate in  Christ,  and  that  it  has  sown  light  in  the 
minds  of  all  men — nay,  that  he  constituted  them 
rational  beings. 

Herein  consists,  therefore,  an  indestructible 
uniqueness,  that  Christ  is  the  Word,  not  its  agent 
merely.  By  virtue  of  this  he  has  a  power,  or  is  a 
power  ("Christ,  the  power  of  God  and  the  wis- 
dom of  God,"  says  St.  Paul)  to  lift  up  unto  himself 
all  men — sailors  and  husbandmen  and  artisans  as 
well  as  kings  and  sages — and  to  quicken  into  con- 
scious activity  in  them  the  seed  of  the  implanted 
Word.  For  Christ,  says  Justin,  men  will  die; 
but  who  will  die  for  the  doctrines  of  Socrates? 


The  Apologists.  49 

The  religion,  therefore,  which  Justin  and  his  fel- 
low-apologists have  to  commend  to  the  emperors 
and  the  ''nations"  is  no  new  thing,  but  is  as  an- 
cient as  mankind.  It  is,  under  another  form,  the 
philosophy  which  the  emperors  themselves  had 
received  from  the  Porch  and  the  Grove  of  Ath- 
ens. But  nevertheless  Tertullian  can  boldly  chal- 
lenge them  to  make  a  comparison:  ^uid  shnile 
-pkilosophus  et  Christianiisf  Grcecice  discifulus 
et  coelif  "  How  are  a  Christian  and  a  philosopher 
alike?  A  disciple  of  Greece  and  of  heaven?" 
A  new  race — and  this  was  the  most  cogent  argu- 
ment of  the  apologists — has  been  begotten  by  the 
power  of  the  incarnate  Logos;  a  new  race  with  a 
new  motive  to  moral  excellence  and  a  new  power 
of  life,  with  new  incentives  and  a  pattern  of  what 
was  to  be  attained;  a  new  race  with  "an  admix- 
ture of  the  divine  in  it,"  and  with  all  its  highest 
guesses  at  truth  and  its  highest  hopes  confirmed 
by  truth  itself. 

The  contribution  of  the  apologists  to  Christian 
thought  was  in  broadening  and  enriching  ideas 
and  liberal  influences.  Impulse  and  direction 
were  given  to  speculative  thought.  The  founda- 
tions were  laid  for  a  philosophy  of  the  Christian 
religion  and  for  metaphysical  disputations  which 
had  better  not  have  been,  as  we  judge.  But  "in 
the  wanderings  of  many  ways"  the  ever-restless 
human  mind  may  grow  weary,  but  it  never  stops. 
And  these  men  seemed  to  have  their  work  to  do, 
and  did  it  courageously. 
4 


50  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

The  attraction  of  Justin,  "the  philosopher  and 
martyr,"  for  the  modern  man  is  his  largeness  of 
heart  and  mind,  the  general  inclusiveness  of  his 
sympathies,  his  great  thirst  of  truth  that  bears 
with  it  assurance  of  its  character.  His  spirit  was 
the  liberal,  sane,  and  sweet  spirit  of  the  few  lofty 
souls  who  have  been  the  glory  of  humanity  in  the 
dark  ages  of  the  world;  its  stars,  shining  forever 
and  ever.  He  was  a  saint  as  well  as  a  philosopher, 
a  confessor  and  martyr,  a  whole-hearted,  liberal- 
minded  Christian  humanist,  an  heroic  and  winsome 
personality.  After  many  years  of  itinerant  preach- 
ing and  teaching,  and  fearless  championship  of  the 
truth,  he  boi^e  witness  by  his  death,  about  the  year 
165,  and  won  the  surname  of  Martyr. 


THE  SCHOOL  OF  ALEXANDRIA. 


"We  are  not  to  be  anxious  about  living,  but  about  living 
well." 

"  Let  us  pursue  this  course,  since  this  way  the  Deity  leads 
us." 

"Philosophy  is  the  highest  music,  and  I  was  devoted  to  it." 

"  True  virtue  subsists  with  wisdom." 

"  *  For  there  are,'  say  those  who  preside  at  the  mysteries, 
«  many  wand-bearers,  but  few  inspired.'  These  last,  in  my  opin- 
ion, are  no  other  than  those  who  have  pursued  philosophy 
rightly;  that  I  might  be  of  their  number,  I  have,  to  the  utmost 
of  my  ability,  left  no  means  untried,  but  have  endeavored  to 
the  utmost  of  my  power." — Sayings  attributed  to  Socrates  by 
Plato. 

"It  is  the  Divine  Principle  within  us  which  in  some  way  sets 
everything  in  motion.  Reason  has  its  origin  in  Something  bet- 
ter than  itself.  What  is  there,  then,  which  you  could  call  bet- 
ter than  rational  cognition  except  God  ?  " — Aristotle. 

(5^) 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  SCHOOL  OF  ALEXANDRIA. 

"We  shall  not  err  in  alleging  that  all  things  necessary  and 
profitable  for  life  came  to  us  from  God,  and  that  philosophy 
more  especially  was  given  to  the  Greeks  as  a  covenant  pecul- 
iar to  them,  being,  as  it  is,  a  stepping-stone  to  the  philosophy 
which  is  according  to  Christ." — Clement  of  Alexandria. 

I.  Philonism. 
The  preparation  for  a  rational  Christianity, 
which  should  meet  the  demands  and  solve  the 
problems  of  the  pagan  world,  is  nowhere  better 
illustrated  than  at  Alexandria.  Here  the  develop- 
ment of  Platonism  had  proceeded  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  Eter- 
nal Word,  or  Logos,  seemed  exactly  suited  to  sup- 
ply what  was  lacking,  and  so  complete  it.  Starting 
from  Platonic  ideas,  Philo  had  given  new  and  ex- 
acter  expression  to  the  theory  of  the  dualism  of 
God  and  the  world,  of  spirit  and  matter.  God,  he 
taught,  acted  on  the  world  through  angels  and  di- 
vinities, called  in  the  philosophy  of  the  time  logoi, 
or  archetypal  ideas,  or  powers.  Now  these  were 
all  comprehended  in  the  one  Logos,  the  operative 
reason  of  God.  The  term  was  so  used  as  to  in- 
clude both  idea  and  power,  both  thought  and  the 
product  of  thought.  On  the  one  side,  then,  the 
Logos  partook  of  the  nature  of  God — was  God; 
on  the  other,  it  shared  in  the  nature  of  the  world — 
it  was  the  rationality  of  created  things,  therefore 

(53;/ 


54  TJie  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

the  Logos  was  a  Mediator  between  God  and  the 
world;  and  as  man  is  a  microcosm — summing  up 
in  himself  both  the  spiritual  and  the  material  ele- 
ments of  the  universe — this  mediation  is  accom- 
plished by  the  Logos  in  man ;  the  Word  in  him  is 
made  flesh. 

So  far  had  Philonism  advanced  at  Alexandria  in 
the  first  century  of  our  era.  To  this  great  Jewish 
philosopher  belongs,  therefore,  the  credit  of  hav- 
ing developed  out  of  Greek  thought  a  system  which 
not  only  opened  the  way  for  a  divine  revelation, 
but  for  its  completion  demanded  such  a  revelation. 
A  Logos  philosophy  of  creation  and  redemption 
was  worked  out  by  a  Greek-cultured  Jew  before 
the  gospel  had  entered  the  Hellenic  world.  But 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  in  the  Alexandrian  Greek 
translation  known  as  the  Septuagint,  had  been  in 
circulation  there  for  two  hundred  years,  and  had 
exerted  an  influence,  especiafly  by  the  words  con- 
cerning wisdom  in  Proverbs  and  some  of  the 
Apocrypha,  on  philosophy,  and  in  turn  had  re- 
ceived a  new  and  allegorical  interpretation  from 
the  Hellenists,  or  those  trained  in  Greek  ways  of 
thinking.  The  meeting  and  mingling  of  these  di- 
vers streams  of  thought  can  hardly  be  overesti- 
mated in  the  results  that  were  thereby  produced. 
It  was  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  age,  and 
Philo  offers  one  of  the  completest  illustrations. 
Into  his  system  entered  ideas  and  influences  from 
Stoicism,  Neopythagoreanism,  Platonism,  and  the 
Old  Testament  wisdom  literature.     The  intellect- 


The  School  of  Alexandria,  55 

ual  ferment  and  eager  search  of  the  age  for  the 
true  philosophy  that  should  reveal  God  and  the 
way  of  redemption  brought  elements  from  many 
quarters  of  the  earth,  and,  fusing  them  together  in 
the  great  alembic  of  a  cosmopolitan  culture,  pro- 
duced such  creations  of  the  moral  and  spiritual 
nature  of  man  as  no  other  age  has  equaled.  Philo 
taught  three  doctrines  of  supreme  importance  to 
Christianity:  (i)  The  divine  original  Essence  is 
supra-rational,  and  must  therefore  be  revealed; 
(2)  only  by  ecstasy  does  the  soul  attain  to  a  vision 
of  God;  (3)  the  Logos  is  the  Son  of  God. 

The  effecting  of  a  union  between  Greek  thought, 
Hebrew  revelation,  and  gospel  history  could  not  be 
accomplished  by  Philo  or  by  his  century ;  the  times 
were  not  yet  full.  Yet  Philo's  philosophy  of  re- 
ligion and  his  allegorical  mode  of  interpreting 
Scripture  prevailed  to  such  an  extent  that  he  gave 
its  permanent  character  in  the  second  and  third 
centuries  to  Alexandrian  Christianity.  This  nota- 
ble work — one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church — belonged  to  that  famous  school 
of  theologians  which  numbered  among  its  leaders 
tv\o  of  the  greatest  scholars  and  thinkers  of  any 
age:  Clement  and  Origen.  Before  speaking  of 
these,  however,  another  school  of  philosophy  must 
come  in  for  a  brief  review. 

2.  Neoplatonism. 

Alexandria  has  been  *'the  Mother  and  Mistress 
of  Churches.*'     In  the  second  and  third  centuries 


56  The  Chtirch  of  the  JFatheri. 

she  was  the  center  of  the  intellectual  activities  of 
the  religious  aspirations  and  spiritual  fermentation 
of  the  Hellenic  world.  Here  all  races  and  all  cults 
and  all  philosophies  met,  and  here  were  produced 
new  and  extraordinary  developments  by  the  char- 
acteristic eclectic  and  syncretic  methods  produced. 
Neoplatonism  was  the  highest  and  the  noblest  of 
such  productions.  It  was  idealism  in  philosophy 
brought  to  perfect  flower  and  become  religious;  it 
was  religion  exalted  to  the  highest  summits  of 
idealistic  philosophy.  Aspiration  was  set  down 
by  the  gnostics  to  be  the  best  thing  in  the  world, 
as  giving  wings  to  bear  up  the  soul;  in  Neoplaton- 
ism, the  aspiration  of  the  soul  after  highest  things 
— the  being  with  God  and  blessedness  through 
union  with  him — finds  its  supreme  historical  mani- 
festation. It  failed  as  a  religion,  it  is  true;  it 
failed  because  it  revealed  not  the  Way — a  living, 
personal  Example ;  it  failed  because  it  offered  no 
Redeemer;  it  failed  because  it  was  too  idealistic, 
too  high  in  its  aim,  for  common  flesh-and-blood 
creatures,  unless  it  had  opened  up  new  resources 
of  immortal  strength,  unless  it  had  supplied  divine 
power.  But  though  it  failed,  its  influence  was  not 
only  for  the  time  dominant  with  a  large  class ;  it 
entered  into  a  higher  philosophy,  that  of  the  Word, 
and  became  a  permanent  factor  in  the  world's  re- 
ligious life.  Being  itself  the  consummate  result  of 
the  religious  culture  and  philosophic  doctrines  of 
the  world  up  to  that  time,  it  yielded  to  Christian- 
ity as  a  higher  assimilating  power,  a  more  reigning 


Th e  School  of  A  lexan dria .  5  7 

force  among  men.  *'The  ethical  temper,"  says 
an  eminent  writer,  "  which  Neoplatonism  sought 
to  beget  and  confirm  was  the  highest  and  purest 
which  the  culture  of  the  ancient  world  produces." 
Upon  this  inheritance  Christianity,  *'  the  heir  of  all 
ages,"  entered  with  justifying  wisdom. 

In  the  third  century  it  numbered  among  its  ad- 
herents Ammonius  Saccas,  who  is  regarded  as  its 
founder;  Plotinus,  its  highest  exponent  in  both 
doctrine  and  life;  Porphyry  and  Jamblichus,  for- 
midable defenders  of  its  claims  against  Christian- 
ity itself.  Their  effort  to  create  out  of  philosophic 
ideas  a  universal  religion,  and  to  erect  moral  aspi- 
ration into  a  redemptive  principle,  may  be  ac- 
counted a  failure ;  but  the  doctrines  which  they 
taught,  inefficient  as  they  were  for  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  world  so  long  as  set  up  in  rivalry  to 
Christian  teaching,  when  received  into  the  Church 
and  filled  with  a  new  spirit  and  principle  of  life — 
the  Word — became  potent  for  uplifting  and  enlight- 
ening mankind. 

3.   Pant^nus. 

The  sharp  conflict  betvv^een  Christianity  and  pa- 
ganism in  the  great  Hellenic  city  of  Egypt  occa- 
sioned the  founding  of  the  first  theological  sem- 
inary— the  famous  catechetical  school  of  Alexan- 
dria. It  appears  in  history  near  the  close  of  the 
second  century,  with  Pantsenus,  '*a  man  highly 
distinguished  for  his  learning,"  says  Eusebius,  at 
its  head.  The  same  historian  further  writes  of 
this  "school  of  the  faithful"  in  Alexandria:    "A 


58  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

school  of  sacred  learning,  which  continues  to  our 
day  [about  A.D.  335],  was  established  there  in 
ancient  times,  and,  as  we  have  been  informed,  was 
managed  b}^  men  of  great  ability  and  zeal  for  di- 
vine things.  Among  these  it  is  reported  that  Pan- 
tsenus  was  at  that  time  especially  conspicuous,  as 
he  had  been  educated  in  the  philosophical  system 
of  those  called  Stoics.  .  .  .  He  expounded 
the  treasures  of  divine  doctrine  both  orally  and  in 
writing." 

Into  this  school,  founded  for  the  defense  of 
Christianity,  the  whole  of  Greek  science  was 
brought  and  made  to  serve  the  purpose  of  Chris- 
tian apologetics.  The  educated  classes  were  ap- 
pealed to  by  a  rational  system  of  doctrine  and  an 
allegorical  interpretation  of  Scripture.  The  tra- 
ditions of  the  Church  were  treated  with  freedom, 
yet  with  reverence,  and  were  explained  in  a  mys- 
tical and  spiritual  sense.  Exegesis  w^as  learned 
and  ingenious;  able  commentaries  on  all  parts  of 
the  Bible  were  written.  An  account  of  the  lives 
and  works  of  the  two  greatest  teachers  of  the 
school  will  not  only  furnish  the  reader  biographies 
of  great  men  w^hom  all  the  world  should  know  and 
honor,  but  wnll  in  the  best  way  be  an  exposition  of 
the  age  and  of  Christianity  engaged  in  the  great 
work  of  conquering  it. 

4.   Clement. 

Titus  Flavins  Clemens,  commonl}^  designated 
'*  Clement    of    Alexandria  "    to    distinguish    him 


The  School  of  Alexandria.  59 

from  the  earlier  "  Clement  of  Rome,"  was  born 
about  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  whether 
at  Athens  or  at  Alexandria  is  not  certain.  That 
by  training  he  was  an  Athenian,  and  that  in  cos- 
mopolitanism he  was  an  Alexandrian,  are  assured 
facts.  Like  Justin  Martyr  and  many  others  of 
that  time,  he  devoted  his  life  to  the  finding  out  of 
a  true  teacher  of  wisdom.  Traveling  over  the 
civilized  world,  he  drank  eagerly  at  every  foun- 
tain, but  his  soul  yet  thirsted.  He  mentions  six 
illustrious  teachers  at  whose  feet  he  sat  without 
finding  satisfaction.  At  last  he  came  to  Alexan- 
dria, where  he  was  led  to  the  school  of  Pantsenus. 
His  own  beautiful  words  must  now  relate  his  new 
experience:  ''  When  I  came  upon  the  last  [he  was 
the  first  in  power],  having  tracked  him  out  con- 
cealed in  Egypt,  I  found  rest.  He,  the  true,  the 
Sicilian  bee,  gathering  the  spoil  of  the  flowers  of 
the  prophetic  and  apostolic  meadow,  engendered 
in  the  souls  of  his  hearers  a  deathless  element  of 
knowledge."  "The  deathless  element  of  knowl- 
edge "  thus  engendered  in  his  soul  was  ever  after- 
wards the  power  in  him  of  a  new  life,  and  the  chief 
principle  of  his  exalted  teaching.  In  time,  about 
A.D.  190,  he  succeeded  his  beloved  master  as  the 
head  of  the  "  School  of  the  Faithful,"  as  Eusebius 
calls  it. 

The  next  twelve  years  were  years  of  great  litera- 
ry productivity  in  Clement's  life.  Not  only  did  he 
teach  orally,  and  indoctrinate  those  who  were  to 
continue  his  labors  and  influence,  but  with  his  pen 


6o  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

he  was  busy  laying  the  foundations  of  the  future 
dogma  of  the  Church.  Three  works  of  his  have 
been  transmitted  to  us,  which  are  easily  the  mas- 
terpieces of  second  century  literature.  They  are: 
**An  Exhortation  to  the  Heathens,"  ''The  In- 
structor," and  "  The  Stromata."  Besides  these, 
he  wrote  many  others  ;  but  only  one  other  treatise, 
entitled  ''Who  is  the  Rich  Man  that  Shall  be 
Saved?"  is  extant.  The  three  larger  and  nobler 
works  constitute  a  trilogy,  each  having  its  own 
special  aim,  but  all  designed  together  to  one  end. 

"The  Exhortation"  presents  paganism  as  "  a 
creed  outworn,"  an  effete  religion,  and  persuades 
the  cultured  Greek  to  choose  the  true  philosophy. 
The  beginning  of  this  "Exhortation  "  is  a  beauti- 
ful illustration  of  Clement's  learning  and  style: 

"Amphion  of  Thebes  and  Arion  of  Methymna 
were  both  minstrels,  and  both  were  renowned  in 
story.  They  are  celebrated  in  song  to  this  day  in 
the  chorus  of  the  Greeks,  the  one  for  having  al- 
lured the  fishes,  the  other  for  having  surrounded 
Thebes  with  walls  by  the  power  of  music.  An- 
other, a  Thracian,  a  cunning  master  of  his  art  (he 
also  is  the  subject  of  a  Hellenic  legend),  tamed 
the  wild  beasts  by  the  mere  might  of  song,  and 
transplanted  trees — oaks — by  music.  I  might  tell 
you  also  the  story  of  another,  a  brother  to  these — 
the  subject  of  a  myth,  and  a  minstrel — Eunomos 
the  Locrian  and  the  Pythic  grasshopper.  A  solemn 
Hellenic  assembly  had  met  at  Pytho  to  celebrate 
the  death  of   the  Pythic  serpent,  when  Eunomos 


The  School  of  Alexandria,  6i 

sang  the  reptile's  epitaph.  Whether  his  ode  was 
a  hymn  in  praise  of  the  serpent,  or  a  dirge,  I  am 
not  able  to  say.  But  there  was  a  contest,  and 
Eunomos  was  playing  the  lyre  in  the  summer  time. 
It  was  when  the  grasshoppers,  warmed  by  the  sun, 
were  chirping  beneath  the  leaves  along  the  hills; 
but  they  were  singing — not  to  that  dead  dragon,  but 
to  God  All- wise — a  lay  unfettered  by  rule,  better 
than  the  numbers  of  Eunomos.  The  Locrian  breaks 
a  string.  The  grasshopper  sprang  on  the  neck  of 
the  instrument,  and  sang  on  it  as  on  a  branch; 
and  the  minstrel,  adapting  his  strain  to  the  grass- 
hopper's song,  made  up  for  the  want  of  the  miss- 
ing string.  The  grasshopper  then  was  attracted 
by  the  song  of  Eunomos,  as  the  fable  represents, 
according  to  which  also  a  brazen  statue  of  Euno- 
mos with  his  lyre,  and  the  Locrian's  ally  in  the 
contest,  was  erected  at  Pytho.  But  of  its  own 
accord  it  flew  to  the  lyre,  and  of  its  own  accord 
sang,  and  was  regarded  by  the  Greeks  as  a  mu- 
sical performer. 

*'  How,  let  me  ask,  have  you  believed  vain  fa- 
bles, and  supposed  animals  to  be  charmed  by 
music,  while  Truth's  shining  face  alone,  as  would 
seem,  appears  to  you  as  disguised,  and  is  looked 
on  with  incredulous  eyes?  And  so  Cithaeron,  and 
Helicon,  and  the  mountains  of  the  Odrysi,  and 
the  initiatory  rites  of  the  Thracians,  mysteries  of 
deceit,  are  hallowed  and  celebrated  in  hymns." 

In  place  of  these  '*  deceitful  mysteries,"  he  has 
to  offer  them  truth  and  wisdom  in  all  their  bright- 


62  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

ness  out  of  heaven  and  the  sacred  prophetic 
choir.  "  What  my  Eunomos  sings,"  he  continues, 
**  is  not  the  measure  of  Terpander,  nor  that  of 
Capito,  nor  the  Phrygian,  nor  Lydian,  nor  Do- 
rian, but  the  immortal  measure  of  the  new  har- 
mony which  bears  God's  name — the  new,  the 
Levitical  song." 

Thus  beginning  his  hfe  work  with  a  hortatory 
and  argumentative  address  to  the  Hellenic  peoples, 
Clement  continued  the  task  of  the  apologists,  and 
in  doctrine  as  in  method  is  their  true  successor. 
He  brought  the  widest  and  most  varied  learning, 
together  with  a  liberal  tliough  intense  spirit,  to  the 
service  of  *' Truth  from  heaven."  His  achieve- 
ment was  the  completing  of  the  bond  between 
Hellenism  and  Christianity. 

With  Justin  Martyr,  of  the  earlier  apologists, 
Clement  is  spiritually  closest  of  kin.  His  doctrine 
of  the  Logos  spermaticos,  or  seminal  Word,  is  the 
same:  **For,"  he  says,  "into  all  men  whatever, 
especially  those  who  are  occupied  with  intellec- 
tual pursuits,  a  certain  divine  effluence  has  been 
instilled ;  wherefore,  though  reluctantly,  they  con- 
fess that  God  is  one, indestructible,  unbegotten,  and 
that  somewhere  above  in  the  tracts  of  heaven,  in 
his  own  peculiar  appropriate  eminence,  whence  he 
surveys  all  things,  he  has  an  existence  true  and  eter- 
nal." And  he  quotes  Euripides,  among  many  others, 
as  bearing  witness  to  high  conceptions  of  God  * 

Tell  me  what  I  am  to  conceive  God  to  be, 
Who  sees  all  things,  and  is  himself  unseen. 


The  School  of  A  lexandria.  63 

Further  on  he  exclaims,  *' Whence,  O  Plato,  is 
that  hint  of  the  truth  which  thou  givest !  Whence 
this  rich  copiousness  of  diction  which  proclaims 
piety  with  oracular  utterance?"  Cleanthes,  too, 
he  affirms,  taught  "  a  true  theology."  These  all 
had  ^'received  scintillations  of  the  divine  word," 
for  ''  the  force  of  truth  is  not  hidden." 

The  explanation  of  all  is  brought  to  light  in  the 
gospel  of  the  Son  of  God:  *'The  Word,  who  in 
the  beginning  bestowed  on  us  life  as  Creator  when 
he  formed  us,  taught  us  to  live  well  when  he  ap- 
peared as  our  teacher ;  that  as  God  he  might  after- 
wards conduct  us  to  the  life  which  never  ends." 

The  divine  mission  of  philosophy  among  the 
Greeks,  as  of  the  law  among  the  Hebrews,  to 
bring  them  to  Christ,  is  expressed  with  convic- 
tion. For  philosophy,  he  says,  is  ''  the  clear  im- 
age of  truth,  a  divine  gift  to  the  Greeks."  And 
further:  '*  Perchance,  too,  philosophy  was  given 
to  the  Greeks  directly  and  primarily,  till  the 
Lord  should  call  the  Greeks.  For  this  was  ''  a 
schoolmaster  to  bring  the  Hellenic  mind,  as  the 
law  the  Hebrews,  to  Christ."  Philosophy,  there- 
fore, was  a  preparation,  paving  the  way  for  him 
who  is  perfected  in  Christ."  But  he  chides  the 
Greeks  for  neglecting  the  faith,  ''which  of  itself, 
and  from  its  own  resources,  chooses  at  once  what 
is  best":  ''You  ought,  O  men,  when  reflecting 
on  the  good,  to  have  brought  forward  a  witness 
inborn  and  competent." 

"The  Instructor"    is  designed  to  teach  those 


64  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

who  have  been  won  from  heathenism  to  the  way 
of  life.  It  is  a  treatise  on  Christian  ethics — a  re- 
markably thorough  and  still  useful  treatise.  In 
scope  and  manner,  in  definition  of  aim  and  terms, 
in  conception  of  the  purpose  of  life  and  of  the 
factors  in  it,  a  better  book  has  scarcely  been  writ- 
ten. His  fundamental  principle  is  that  "virtue  is 
rational,  sin  is  irrational."  "Everything  that  is 
contrary  to  right  reason  is  sin."  Virtue  is  defined 
as  **a  state  of  the  soul  rendered  harmonious  by 
reason  in  respect  to  the  whole  of  life . ' '  The  whole 
scope  of  Christian  ethics  is  indicated  in  these  words : 
"And  Christian  conduct  is  the  operation  of  the  ra- 
tional soul  in  accordance  with  a  correct  judgment 
and  aspiration  after  the  truth,  which  attains  its  des- 
tined end  through  the  body,  the  soul's  consort  and 
ally.  Virtue  is  a  will  in  conformity  to  God  and  Christ 
in  life,  rightly  adjusted  to  life  everlasting.  For  the 
life  of  Christians,  in  which  we  are  now  trained, 
is  a  system  of  reasonable  actions — that  is,  of  those 
things  taught  by  the  Word — an  unfailing  energy, 
which  we  have  called  faith." 

All  rash  attempts  at  changing  human  nature,  or 
of  recreating  man,  are  held  in  check  by  this  wise 
caution  :  "  Whatever  things  are  natural  to  men  we 
must  not  eradicate  from  them,  but  rather  impose 
on  them  limits  and  suitable  times." 

The  finest  Greek  thought,  moved,  however,  by 
a  diviner  wisdom,  speaks  in  this  nobly  conceived 
passage  concerning  truth  and  beauty:  "In  the 
soul  alone  are  beauty  and  deformity.      [All  out- 


Th  e  School  of  A I  ex  an  dria .  65 

ward  ornaments  are  but ' '  girls'  gewgaws  "  to  be  ut- 
terly cast  off.]  Only  the  virtuous  man  is  really 
beautiful  and  good.  And  it  is  laid  down  as  a  dog- 
ma, that  only  the  beautiful  is  good.  And  excel- 
lence alone  appears  through  the  beautiful  body, 
and  blossoms  out  in  the  flesh,  exhibiting  the  amia- 
ble comeliness  of  self-control,  whenever  the  char- 
acter like  a  beam  of  light  gleams  in  the  form.  For 
the  beauty  of  each  plant  and  animal  consists  in  its 
individual  excellence.  And  the  excellence  of  man 
is  righteousness,  and  temperance,  and  manliness, 
and  godliness.  The  beautiful  man  is  then  he  who 
is  just,  temperate,  and,  in  a  word,  good;  not  he 
who  is  rich." 

On  knowledge  is  set  a  value  coequal  with  that  of 
faith.  For  '*  neither  is  knowledge  without  faith, 
nor  faith  without  knowledge."  Man  is  fashioned 
to  have  intercourse  with  God  and  to  know  him. 
*' The  Word  of  God  became  man,"  he  writes,  with 
startling  boldness,  "that  thou  mayest  learn  from 
man  how  man  may  become  God . ' '  Again,  in  praise 
of  the  dignity  of  man,  he  bursts  forth:  *'A  noble 
hymn  of  God  is  an  immortal  man,  established  in 
righteousness,  in  whom  the  oracles  of  truth  are  en- 
g-raved.  For  where  but  in  a  soul  that  is  wise  can 
you  write  truth?  where  love?  where  reverence? 
where  meekness  ?  ' ' 

From  these  principles  he  deduces  the  following 

doctrine:   *'It  is,  then,  as  appears,  the  greatest  of 

all  lessons  to  know  oneself.     For  if  one  knows 

himself,  he  will  know  God ;  and  knowing  God  he 

5 


^()  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

will  be  made  like  God,  not  by  wearing  gold  or  long 
robes,  but  by  welldoing,  and  by  requiring  as  few 
things  as  possible." 

''The  Stromata"  is  Clement's  crowning  literary 
achievement.  Its  design  is  to  bring  the  Christian 
to  perfection  of  knowledge  and  love.  The  order 
and  stages  of  Christian  growth  he  had  outlined  in 
' '  The  Instructor ' '  as  follows :  ' '  Being  baptized,  we 
are  illuminated;  illuminated,  we  become  sons;  be- 
ing made  sons,  we  are  made  perfect;  being  made 
perfect,  we  are  made  immortal." 

He  who  has  been  perfected  is  called  a  gnostic, 
thatis,one  who>^;2^2£/5 — '*  the  man  of  understanding 
and  perspicacity."  Being  illuminated,  he  makes 
the  service  of  God,  bestowed  in  ceaseless  love,  his 
continual  study  and  occupation.  He  alone  is  truly 
pious.  He  alone  worships  the  true  God  in  a  man- 
ner worthy  of  him:  ''And  that  worship  meet  for 
God  is  followed  by  loving  and  being  loved  by 
God."  He  may  be  calumniated,  as  Socrates  was, 
for  an  atheist;  but  he  dwells  in  God,  and  alone 
knows  him.  He  moves  '*amid  things  sure  and 
wholly  immutable,"  possessing  a  sure  grasp  of  di- 
vine science.  "  His  whole  life  is  prayer  and  con- 
verse with  God." 

To  such  a  height  of  Christian  teaching — no  high- 
er, it  is  true,  than  the  Bible,  yet  wonderful  outside 
of  that — to  such  an  ideal  of  life,  does  this  Christian 
philosopher  of  the  second  century  bring  us.  Clem- 
ent was  never  a  bishop  in  the  Church,  but  only  a 
presbyter.     The  end  of  his  career  is  involved  in 


The  School  of  A  lexandria .  67 

obscurity.  He  was  obliged  to  leave  Alexandria 
A.D.  202  because  of  the  persecution  of  Severus. 
Some  years  later  he  was  at  Jerusalem,  whose  bish- 
op, Alexander,  he  visited  in  prison.  It  is  in  the 
letters  of  Alexander,  A.D.  212,  that  we  have  our 
last  notice  of  him. 

An  anthology  of  beautiful  thoughts  might  be 
gathered  from  his  writings,  as  a  suitable  appendix 
to  this  account  of  his  teachings.  Only  a  few  strik- 
ing utterances  can  be  presented: 

' '  Error  seems  old,  but  truth  seems  a  new  thing. ' ' 

*'  Suspicion  is  no  insignificant  seed,  and  becomes 
the  germ  of  true  wisdom." 

*'The  extremes  of  ignorance  are  atheism  and 
superstition." 

'*  Practice  husbandry,  we  say,  if  you  are  a  hus- 
bandman ;  but  while  you  till  your  fields,  know 
God." 

*'The  end  of  piety  is  eternal  rest  in  God." 

'*The  soul  is  not  sent  down  from  heaven  to  what 
is  worse.  For  God  works  all  things  up  to  what  is 
better.  But  the  soul  which  has  chosen  the  best 
life — the  life  that  is  from  God  and  righteousness — ■ 
exchanges  earth  for  heaven." 

"This  is  the  true  athlete — he  who  in  the  great 
stadium,  the  lair  world,  is  crowned  for  the  true 
victory  over  all  the  passions." 

** Holding  festival,  then,  in  our  whole  life, 
persuaded  that  God  is  altogether  on  every  side 
present,  we  cultivate  our  fields,  praising;  we 
sail   the   sea,    hymning;    in    all   the    rest   of    our 


68  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

conversation  we  conduct  ourselves  according  to 
rule." 

'*  Before  the  advent  of  the  Lord,  philosophy  was 
necessary  to  the  Greeks  for  righteousness.  And 
now  it  becomes  conducive  to  piety ;  being  a  kind  of 
preparatory  training  to  those  who  attain  to  faith 
through  demonstration — a  schoolmaster  to  bring 
the  Hellenic  mind,  as  the  law  the  Hebrews,  to 
Christ." 

5.  Origen. 

Clement  was  the  father  of  Greek  theology. 
Origen,  his  disciple,  developed  it  into  system  and 
gave  it  currency.  When  the  master  was  driven 
out  of  Alexandria^  his  illustrious  pupil,  though  not 
yet  eighteen  years  of  age,  became  its  able  head. 
Born  about  the  year  185,  in  Alexandria,  of  Greek 
pa,rents,  he  had  the  best  educational  opportunities 
from  the  first.  His  father,  Leonidas,  appears  to 
have  been  a  teacher  of  grammar  and  rhetoric — a 
very  high  function — in  the  cultured  city.  Not  only 
in  the  Greek  learning  of  the  time,  however,  did  he 
educate  his  son,  but  also,  and  more  especially,  in 
sacred  Scriptures,  requiring  him,  as  Eusebius  re- 
lates, daily  to  commit  and  repeat  portions  of  them. 
The  boy  learned  rapidly,  indeed  was  precocious 
almost  beyond  example.  '*Hewas  not  satisfied," 
says  Eusebius,  **with  learning  what  was  plain  and 
obvious  in  the  sacred  words,  but  sought  for  some- 
thing more,  and  even  at  that  age  busied  himself 
with  deeper  speculations."  Though  the  father 
was  ofttimes  puzzled  by  the  lad's  deep  inquiries, 


The  School  of  Alexandria,  6g 

and  told  him  he  should  seek  only  the  manifest 
meaning,  yet  he  inwardly  rejoiced  and  thanked 
God  that  he  had  deemed  him  worthy  to  be  the  fa- 
ther of  such  a  child.  "And  they  say,"  continued 
the  historian,  "that  often,  standing  by  the  boy 
when  asleep,  he  uncovered  his  breast  as  if  the  Di- 
vine Spirit  were  enshrined  within  it,  and  kissed  it 
reverently."  The  noble  father  ended  his  life  in 
martyrdom,  his  property  v/as  confiscated,  and  Ori- 
gen  was  left  before  he  was  seventeen  years  old  in 
poverty  with  his  mother  and  six  younger  brothers: 
"But  he  was  deemed  worthy  of  divine  care." 

Under  these  circumstances  Origen  bore  witness 
to  his  zeal  for  the  orthodox  faith.  Having  found 
welcome  and  rest  with  a  wealthy  lady  who  had 
an  adopted  son  by  the  name  of  Paul,  a  distin- 
guished heretic  who  drew  multitudes  to  hear  him, 
Origen  could  not  be  induced  to  join  with  him  in 
prayer:  "for  he  held,  although  a  boy,  the  rule  of 
the  Church,  and  abominated,  as  he  somewhere  ex- 
presses it,  heretical  teachings."  Thus  he  surren- 
dered the  kind  woman's  favor  and  was  driven  to 
his  own  resources  for  a  livelihood.  He  began 
teaching  in  Alexandria,  and  "the  heathen  came 
to  him  to  hear  the  word  of  God."  In  his  eight- 
eenth year  he  took  charge  of  the  catechetical 
school. 

Kindness  and  good  will  to  those  who  suffered 
for  the  faith  revealed  the  nobility  of  his  character. 
"For  not  only  was  he  with  them  while  in  bonds 
and  until  their  final  condemnation,  but  when  the 


70  The  Church  of  the  leathers, 

holy  martyrs  were  led  to  death  he  was  very  bold 
and  went  with  them  into  danger."  The  persecu- 
tors arose  therefore  in  fury  against  him,  but  he 
escaped  marvelously  through  the  helping  hand  of 
God.  He  also  practiced  a  severe  asceticism.  Giv-  - 
ing  up  his  secular  teaching  and  parting  with  his 
valuable  classics,  he  lived  on  four  obolz,  or  about 
fourteen  cents,  a  day.  He  fasted  often,  and  lim- 
ited himself  in  sleep,  devoting  the  night  hours  to 
study  of  the  Scriptures.  Interpreting  literally 
the  gospel  where  the  Master  exhorts  not  to  have  j 
two  coats,  he  lived  in  cold  and  nakedness.  For 
years  he  wore  no  shoes  and  slept  upon  the  ground. 
The  effect  of  such  a  manner  of  life  upon  others 
was  very  great,  and  many  were  inspired  to  mar- 
tyrdom in  the  prevailing  persecution.  The  histo- 
rian who  furnishes  us  this  account  of  the  illustri- 
ous teacher  sums  all  up  in  one  beautiful  sentence: 
"  They  say  that  his  manner  of  life  was  as  his  doc- 
trine, and  his  doctrine  as  his  life." 

Of  his  doctrine  now,  since  by  common  consent  \ 
he  is  easily  the  chief  in  learning  and  in  influence  i 
among  the  Fathers  before  Augustine,  we  must  give 
an  account.  We  find  them  set  forth  with  system 
in  his  "  De  Principiis,"  and  with  polemic  force  in 
his  *' Reply  to  Celsus."  Origen  was  the  most 
prolific  writer  known  to  us  of  antiquity.  Epipha- 
nius  relates  that  he  was  the  author  of  six  thousand 
volumes.  This  certainly  includes  every  treatise, 
however  brief,  and  his  sermons — regarded  each 
as  a  **  book."     Jerome,  too,  wondered  at  his  pro- 


The  School  of  Alexandria.  71 

ductivity,    saying   he   wrote    more    than    anybody 
else  could  read. 

In  his  ''De  Principiis"  Origen  discusses  in  or- 
der each  tenet  of  the  Church's  creed,  presenting  a 
philosophy  of  Christianity.  God,  Christ,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  rational  natures,  the  fall,  the  final  restora- 
tion, the  nature  of  souls,  the  incarnation,  and, 
withal,  the  proper  mode  of  interpreting  Scripture, 
are  the  subjects  of  his  treatment.  His  doctrine  of 
God  was  transcendental:  he  is  one,  immaterial, 
absolute,  self-conscious.  He  is  eternally  revealing 
himself  by  a  necessary  self-unfolding.  This  oc- 
curs by  means  of  the  Logos,  which  is  his  conscious  / 
spiritual  activity.  It  is  the  ' '  compendium  of  world- 
creative  ideas,''  a  *' second  God,"  eternally  be- 
gotten, ''as  the  brilliancy  which  is  produced  from 
the  sun." 

The  Logos,  or  Divine  Reason,  havingunited  itself 
with  an  unfallen  spirit,  which  chooses  to  become  a 
soul  and  dwell  upon  the  earth  in  order  to  redeem 
mankind,  is  made  known  as  Christ.  In  order  to 
understand  Origen's  idea  it  must  be  explained  that 
he  held  the  theory  of  a  threefold  nature  of  man,  as 
consisting  of  body,  soul,  and  spirit — the  last  two 
being  commonly  distinguished  as  the  "  animal  soul" 
and  the  ''  reasonable  soul"  (anima  and  mens);  and 
that  the  spirit,  or  reasonable  soul,  had  preexistence, 
and,  before  time,  fell  into  sin,  and  was  cast  down  to 
earth  for  punishment.  Christ's  soul  was  an  unfall- 
en spirit  which  "elected  to  love  righteousness  and 
hate  iniquity."     The  Divine  Reason  unites  with  the 


72  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

soul,  which  is  hke  all  other  reasonable  souls,  only 
sinless,  and  becomes  man — the  '"  God-man."  The 
Logos  thus  united  with  the  soul  glorifies  and  deifies 
it,  as  the  soul  also  glorifies  and  deifies  the  body  ;  so 
that  the  whole  man  Jesus  becomes  divine.  *'The 
explanation  of  that  mystery,"  he  says,  "may  per- 
haps be  beyond  the  grasp  of  tiie  entire  creation  of 
celestial  powers,"  and  not  merely  beyond  that  of 
the  holy  apostles.  The  thought  of  Christ's  glorious 
and  mysterious  nature  inspired  him  to  an  utterance 
that  is  justly  famous:  "Since,  then,"  he  writes, 
"we  see  in  him  some  things  so  human  that  they 
appear  to  differ  in  no  respect  from  the  common 
frailty  of  mortals,  and  some  things  so  divine  that 
they  can  appropriatel}^  belong  to  nothing  else  than 
to  the  primal  and  ineffable  nature  of  Deity,  the 
narrowness  of  human  understanding  can  find  no 
outlet;  but,  overcome  with  the  amazement  of  a 
mighty  admiration,  knows  not  whither  to  with- 
draw, or  what  to  take  hold  of,  or  whither  to  turn. 
It  it  think  of  a  God,  it  sees  a  mortal.  If  it  think 
of  a  man,  it  beholds  Him  returning  from  the  grave, 
after  overthrowing  the  empire  of  death,  laden  with 
its  spoils." 

Christ  is  redeemer  of  the  race  by  virtue  of  four 
things  which  he  did  or  was :  First,  he  achieved  vic- 
tory over  the  power  of  evil  in  his  life  and  on  the 
cross ;  second,  by  vicarious  suffering  he  atoned  for 
and  expiated  the  sins  of  the  world;  third,  he  paid 
a  ransom  to  the  devil  for  mankind — the  devil's  cap- 
tives in  sin  :  f  ourtii,  by  virtue  of  being  the  God-man, 


The  School  of  Alexandria.  73 

he  is  the  high  priest  of  the  human  family  and  the 
mediator  between  man  and  God. 

The  true  nature,  the  essence,  of  Christianity,  as 
a  redemptive  power,  consisted  in  *' knowledge," 
that  higher  and  more  perfect  knowledge  of  divine 
things  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks  in  Corinthians, 
and  which  Origen  sought  everywhere  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. For  not  only  is  there  first  the  plain  his- 
torical meaning,  secondly  the  moral  teaching,  but 
thirdly  the  mystic  spiritual  sense.  The  gnos- 
tic, or  enlightened  Christian,  described  by  Clem- 
ent, seeks  this  last  and  attains  to  ultimate  ideas  and 
clear  vision.  He  is  saved  by  the  mere  revelation 
of  the  Logos,  or  Divine  Reason,  in  the  threefold 
work  of  God:  nature,  the  law,  and  the  gospel. 
The  lower  grades  of  men,  which  are  two— the  so- 
matic or  carnal,  and  the  psychic  or  moral—are 
saved  by  believing  in  the  historical  and  moral 
meanings  of  Scripture. 

Origen  taught  the  final  restoration  of  all  fallen 
beings,  both  men  and  angels.  His  fundamental 
conception  of  the  *' indestructible  unity  of  God  and 
all  spiritual  essence"  compelled  him  to  this  doc- 
trine. Everlasting  rebellion  against  God  by  his 
own  handiwork,  eternal  discord  in  his  kingdom, 
would  not  be  in  accord,  says  Origen,  with  "the 
final  unity  and  fitness  of  things."  Furthermore, 
the  indestructible  freedom  of  the  will,  a  doctrine 
held  firmly  by  all  the  Greek  theologians,  renders 
everlasting  perdition  unnecessary  and  the  turning 
to  righteousness  possible   at  any  time.     "Those 


74  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

who  have  been  removed  from  their  primal  state  of 
blessedness  have  not  been  removed  irrecoverably." 
''We  think,  indeed,  that  the  goodness  of  God, 
through  his  Christ,  may  recall  all  his  creatures  to 
one  end,  even  his  enemies  being  conquered  and 
subdued."  Tennyson,  in  the  conclusion  of  his 
*'  In  Memoriam,"  it  is  interesting  to  note,  gives  ut- 
terance to  the  same  sublime  idea: 

That  God,  which  ever  lives  and  loves, 

One  God,  one  law,  one  element, 

And  one  far-off  divine  event, 
Tovk^ard  which  the  whole  creation  moves. 

And  Robert  Burns  expresses  a  humorous  wish  in 
his  ''Address  to  the  Deil "  that  even  he  some  time 
may  mend  his  ways  and  be  restored: 

But  fare  je  weel,  auld  Nickie-Ben! 
O  wad  je  tak  a  thought  an'  men' ! 
Ye  aiblins  [perhaps]  might — I  dinna  ken — 

Still  hae  a  stake — 
I'm  wae  to  think  upo'  yon  den 

Ev'n  for  your  sake! 

While  thus,  in  lines  marked  out  by  Clement,  , 
Origen  was  developing  into  system  Greek  theolo- 
gy and  creating  the  dogmatic  Christianity  which 
was  destined  to  prevail  even  to  this  day,  yet  he  - 
taught  many  doctrines  which  were  subsequently 
declared  to  be  heretical — he  who  "abominated 
heretical  teachings." 

The  career  of  Origen  was  active  and  troubled. 
In  the  year  216  the  Emperor  Caracalla  came  to 
Alexandria  and  began  a  bloody  persecution  against 


The  School  of  Alexandria.  75 

the  Christians,  especialty  the  more  eminent.  Ori- 
gen  was  compelled  to  seek  safety  in  another  land. 
He  went  first  to  Jerusalem,  then  to  Caesarea,  being 
received  by  the  bishop  of  each  city  with  distin- 
guished honors.  By  invitation  of  these  bishops  he 
delivered  some  lectures  in  their  presence.  The 
bishop  of  Alexandria,  Demetrius,  hearing  of  this, 
sent  a  remonstrance  against  "such  an  unheard-of 
act"  to  the  bishops  who  were  guilty  of  listening 
to  a  layman  !  Origen  was  summoned  to  return 
to  Alexandria,  which  he  compliantly  did.  He 
there  resumed  his  interrupted  labors,  now  with 
greater  advantages  than  he  had  ever  enjoyed  be- 
fore;  for  a  wealthy  admirer,  Ambrosius  by  name, 
furnished  him,  so  Eusebius  relates,  "with  more 
than  seven  amanuenses,  who  relieved  one  another 
at  stated  times,  and  with  an  equal  number  of  tran- 
scribers, along  with  young  girls  who  were  skilled 
in  calligraphy.  Thus  did  the  labor  of  producing 
the  six  thousand  volumes  proceed.  In  A.D.  228 
he  was  summoned  on  some  ecclesiastical  business, 
probably  the  adjustment  of  some  doctrinal  dispute, 
to  Greece.  Passing.through  Palestine  on  his  way, 
he  received  ordination  as  presbyter  at  the  hands  of 
the  two  bishops  through  whom  he  had  formerly 
come  into  trouble.  This  brought  him  into  still 
greater  trouble;  for,  being  a  eunuch  (Eusebius  re- 
lates that  in  his  excessive  youthful  zeal  he  was 
so  made  by  his  own  hand),  he  was  ineligible  to 
such  an  office.  Again  Demetrius  summoned  him 
back  to  Alexandria.     Returning,  he  was  there  ex- 


76  The  Chii7'ch  of  the  Fathers, 

communicated  from  the  Church  A.D.  231,  and 
through  Demetrius's  influence  was  degraded,  by  a 
second  council,  from  the  office  of  presbyter.  Jeal- 
ousy and  vindictiveness  never  had  a  more  shining 
mark.  While  admiring  great  men  and  rulers  were 
desiring  but  to  see  the  illustrious  teacher,  this  petty- 
minded  bishop  was  harassing  him  as  a  fly  may  vex 
and  madden  an  ox.  That  he  might  live  and  la- 
bor on,  Origen  betook  himself  again  to  Csesarea, 
where,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he  toiled  as  few 
men  ever  have.  Disciples  gathered  about  him, 
and  the  theological  school  there  became  a  chief 
center  of  influence. 

Under  Emperor  Maximin  persecution  again 
drove  him  to  flee  his  country.  He  found  refuge 
at  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  a  city  and  country  aft- 
erwards made  famous  for  its  great  teachers,  who 
owned  Origen  as  their  master.  Having  returned, 
after  two  years,  to  Palestine,  he  was  cast  into  pris- 
on at  Tyre,  and  was  subject  to  cruelties  from  the 
effects  of  which  he  died,  A.D.  254,  in  the  seventi- 
eth year  of  his  age.  He  who,  while  but  a  lad  in 
his  teens,  eagerly  sought  to  share  his  father's  fate, 
and,  being  prevented  by  his  mother,  wrote  to  him 
in  prison,  saying,  "Take  heed  not  to  change 
your  mind  on  our  account"  ;  and  who,  in  mature 
years,  wrote  an  "Exhortation  to  Martyrdom,"  won 
at  last  the  meed  of  highest  honor — the  fadeless 
wreath  of  Christian  martyrdom.  But  in  the  the- 
ology of  the  Church  he  yet  lives,  the  greatest  of 
the  Fathers. 


The  School  of  A  Icxandria ,  7  7 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Dr.  Edwin  Hatch's  Hibbert  Lectures  (1888),  on  "The  Influ- 
ence of  Greek  Ideas  and  Usages  upon  the  Christian  Church," 
is  a  book  the  student  cannot  afford  to  neglect.  It  is  a  masterly 
presentation  of  notable  facts  by  a  ripe,  broad-minded,  Christian 
scholar. 

Professor  Allen's  "Continuity  of  Christian  Thought"  con 
tains  an  excellent  chapter  on  "The  Greek  Theology,"  in  which 
he  gives  a  succinct  but  admirable  account  of  the  Epistle  to  Diog 
netus,  Justin  Martyr,  Clement,  Origen,  and  Athanasius,  through 
whom  a  continuity  of  development  was  kept  up  from  the  first 
century  far  into  the  fourth. 


EARLY  HERESIES  AND  THE  FORMATION 
OF  A  CANON. 


"Liberty,  which  is  the  nurse  of  all  great  wits;  this  is  that 
which  hath  rarify'd  and  enlighten'd  our  spirits  like  the  influ 
enceof  heav'n;  thisis  that  which  hath  enfranchis'd,enlarg'd,and 
lifted  up  our  apprehensions  degrees  above  themselves      Ye  can 
not  make  us  now  lesse  capable,  lesse  knowing,  lesse  eagerly  pur- 
suing of  the  truth,  unlesse  ye  first  make  your  selves,  that  made 
us  so,  lesse  the  lovers,  lesse  the  founders  of  our  true  liberty. 
.  .  .  Give  me  the  liberty  to  know,  to  utter,  and  to  argue  freely 
according  to  conscience,  above  all  liberties.  .  ,  „  And  though 
all  the  windes  of  doctrin  were  let  loose  to  play  upon  the  earth, 
so  Truth  be  in  the  field,  we  do  injuriously  by  licencing  and  pro 
hibiting  to  miscount  her  strength.     Let  her  and  Falshood  grap- 
ple; who  ever  knew  Truth  put  to  the  wors  in  a  free  and  open 
encounter  ? " — Milton, 

(80) 


CHAPTER  V. 

EARLY  HERESIES  AND  THE  FORMATION   OF  A 
CANON. 

The  question  of  a  canon  of  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures  arose  late  in  the  second  century.  The 
Christian  writings  were  not  called  ''Scriptures," 
nor  was  the  term  "New  Testament'*  applied  to 
any  body  of  documents,  until  nearly  two  hundred 
years  after  the  birth  of  Christ.  His  traditional 
words  were  the  only  canon;  that  is,  "rule  of 
faith,"  as  the  Greek  word  Kavwv  means.  But  as 
generation  after  generation  passed  away,  tradition 
grew  more  and  more  uncertain,  and  the  need  of 
accepted  and  authoritative  documents  became  more 
and  more  imperative.  From  the  feeling  of  a  sim- 
ilar need,  the  written  Gospels  had  been  produced 
in  an  earlier  day.  When  the  immediate  disciples 
began  to  be  few  upon  the  earth,  the  need  of  per- 
manent memorials  of  what  they  had  seen,  heard, 
and  felt  from  him  pressed  itself  upon  the  Church; 
hence  those  priceless  records. 

But  in  the  time  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  there 
was  still  a  "  living  voice  "  ;  that  is,  the  tradition  of 
the  apostles  themselves;  and  this  was  for  that  era 
the  highest  authority.  To  this  was  appeal  made 
rather  than  to  the  written  Gospels  in  the  contro- 
versies with  the  heretics.  Papias,  who  was  bishop 
of  Hierapolls  (A.D.  163),  expressed  the  general 
6  '  (81) 


82  The  Chm-ch  of  the  Fathers. 

feeling  of  the  age  when  he  wrote :  "  For  books  do 
not  profit  me  so  much  as  the  living  voice  clearly 
sounding  up  to  the  present  day." 

To  us  this  may  seem  strange,  but  it  is  true,  nev- 
ertheless— and  good  reason  was  there  for  it.  The 
**  living  voice  "  could  not,  as  they  thought,  be  sub- 
jected to  the  perversion,  the  fanciful,  allegorical, 
and  arbitrary  interpretation,  which  was  put  upon 
the  written  word;  for  along  with  the  oral  utter- 
ance came  the  traditional  understanding  of  it  also. 
Memory,  too,  as  must  be  borne  in  mind,  was  a 
more  faithful  servant  in  those  times  of  few  books 
and  no  dailies  than  it  is  now.  The  writers  of  the 
Gospels  did  not  commit  to  parchment  what  they 
had  seen  and  heard  until  many  years — perhaps 
from  thirty  to  sixty — after  the  events  themselves; 
and  then  they  did  so  only  for  those  who  either 
could  not  hear  the  apostles  preach  or  for  the  gen- 
erations following.  And,  it  is  worth  remarking, 
their  writings  —  our  Gospels  —  were  first  called 
"Memoirs,"  or  "  Memorabiha,"  which  is  a  very 
suggestive  and  appropriate  name  for  them. 

But  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century  the 
need  of  a  canonical  body  of  Christian  writings  be- 
gan to  be  felt.  Unrestrained  diversity  of  doctrine, 
with  no  fixed  criterion  ( /.  e.^  canon),  was  the  cause 
of  this.  Heresies  were  rife  and  of  every  descrip- 
tion. About  the  year  220,  Hippolytus  wrote  a 
book  entitled  "  The  Refutation  of  All  Heresies," 
in  which  he  assailed  thirty-two.  What  if  we  re- 
garded them  as  ancient  "denominations"?     In- 


Early  Heresies  and  Formation  of  a  Canon.    83 

deed,  we  are  yet  disposed  to  think  of  all  beliefs 
but  our  own  as  heresies. 

But  are  we  not  using  this  word  "heresy"  un- 
advisedly? When  there  is  no  generally  accepted 
interpretation  of  Scripture,  and  no  lawfully  deter- 
mined creed,  nor  any  digest  of  right  doctrine, 
how  can  there  be  any  contemporaneous  verdict 
of  "heresy"?  For  *' heresy"  means  something 
"taken  up"  in  divergence  from  what  already  is 
accepted.  There  must  be  an  orthodoxy  before 
there  can  be  a  heterodoxy.  Naturally,  therefore, 
every  heterodox  view,  or  heresy,  originates  with 
one  individual,  or  a  small  number,  in  opposition 
to  the  many.  By  the  spread  of  the  doctrine  a 
"sect"  arises.  Now  if  the  few  become  many,  as 
sometimes  happens;  if  they  grow  to  embrace  the 
majority,  as  not  seldom  has  been  the  case,  what 
do  they  become  but  the  orthodox  party?  and  what 
their  heresy  but  the  faith?  Thereupon  dissent 
from  their  ruling  is  pronounced  heretical.  Ortho- 
doxy, in  short,  is  the  belief  of  the  majority;  heresy 
is  the  belief  of  the  minority.  Quer}^:  Has  right 
and  truth,  either  in  politics  or  in  theology,  always 
been  wholly  upon  one  side?  Some  would  answer, 
perhaps:  "Yes,  always  on  the  side  of  the  major- 
ity; for  vox  -pofiili  est  vox  Dei^  Others  would 
answer  likewise:  "Yes,  always  on  the  side  of  the 
minority ;  for  only  a  few  ever  lead  the  march  of 
humanity  into  the  realm  of  higher  truth,  while  the 
masses  are  ever  subject  to  delusion,  superstition, 
and  error." 


84  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

This  much  is  certain:  the  heresy  of  one  genera- 
tion has  not  seldom  become  the  orthodoxy  of  the 
next;  and  every  idea  has  been  grasped  first  by  a 
single  mind,  which,  right,  stood  then  against  all 
the  world,  wrong.  And  till  this  doctrine  makes 
its  way  like  the  little  leaven  in  the  lump,  and  per- 
meates the  dull  mass  of  the  people,  this  one  proph- 
et is  a  '*  heretic,"  liable  to  be  burned,  and  his  fol- 
lowers are  a  "sect,"  liable  to  be  stamped  out  of 
existence. 

In  this  period,  therefore,  before  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  and  his  disciples  have  been  digested  and  re- 
duced to  system,  and  all  legitimate  inferences  made 
from  them,  there  is  inevitably  much  freedom  of 
interpretation  and  speculation.  There  can  be,  in 
the  nature  of  the  case,  no  restraint.  What  is  or- 
thodox and  what  is  not  has  never  been  deter- 
mined; much  free  inquiry  and  free  debate,  and 
many  sharp  conflicts,  must  first  take  place  before 
this  matter  can  be  finally  settled — if  it  ever  can  be 
%^\.\\^d^  finally .  All  the  possible  diverse  views  must 
meet  in  the  arena  of  dialectics  and  contend  for 
life  and  supremacy.  Indeed,  the  decisive  conflict 
has  not  unfrequently  been  upon  the  bloody  field 
where  such  watchwords  as  '' homoousias,"  "the- 
otokos,"  and  *'filioque"  were  the  battle  shouts. 
Where  there  is  life  there  will  be  strife,  and  this 
was  an  intellectually  active  age. 

There  is  no  soil  that  does  not  bring  forth  tares 
among  the  wheat,  and  the  more  fertile  it  is  the 
larger  the  harvest  of  both.     The  chief  heresies  of 


Barly  Heresies  and  Formation  of  a  Cation.  85 

the  second  and  third  centuries  were  Ebionism, 
Gnosticism,  and  Monarchianism.  Let  us  note  the 
main  features  of  each  in  order. 

I.  Ebionism. 

From  the  first  there  was  a  Christian  sect  of  Ju- 
daizers;  that  is,  converted  Jews,  who  sought  to 
bring  over  into  the  new  society  the  ceremonial 
laws  of  Moses.  Ccelmn  non  anim-mn  mutant. 
The  controversy  manifests  itself  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  gives  rise  to  the  first  general  council 
of  the  Church,  at  Jerusalem.  The  writings  of  the 
Apostolic  Fathers  likewise  abound  in  condemna- 
tions of  *'  the  superstition  of  the  Jews."  The  en- 
tire Epistle  of  Barnabas  is  an  elaborate  argumenta- 
tive discourse  against  Judaism  and  the  materialis- 
tic interpretation  of  Moses.  The  most  prominent 
party  of  Judaizers  went  under  the  name  of  Ebion- 
ites  (the  ''poor").  According  to  Origen,  it  was 
a  sect  of  two  divisions,  one  of  which  accepted  and 
the  other  of  which  denied  the  supernatural  concep- 
tion of  Jesus.  In  the  view  of  the  latter,  Jesus  was 
distinguished  from  other  men  onty  by  an  extraordi- 
nary endowment  of  the  Holy  Spirit  received  at  his 
baptism.  Cerinthus,  contemporary  of  St.  John  in 
Asia  Minor,  is  the  most  notable  representative  of 
this  phase  of  Ebionism,  although  his  teachings  in- 
cluded elements  of  the  following  heresy  also. 
Ebionism  may  be  defined  as  that  type  of  early 
Christianity  which  sought  to  retain  the  greatest 
measure  of  the  Jewish  faith  and  worship      The 


86  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Essenian  branch  of  it  was  ascetic  and  rigid  in  mo- 
rality and  speculative  in  doctrine.  Its  adherents 
abstained  from  flesh  and  wine,  and  practiced  fre- 
quent lustrations.  To  their  way  of  thinking,  Chris- 
tianity was  but  restored  and  pure  Mosaism,  and 
Christ  was  only  a  perfect  man. 

2.  Gnosticism. 

This  system  of  doctrine  sustained  the  same  rela- 
tion to  paganism  that  the  foregoing  did  to  Judaism. 
The  converts  ''change  their  sky,  not  their  mind." 

Indications  of  Gnostic  doctrines  also  abound  in 
the  New  Testament,  especially  in  the  writings  of 
Paul  and  John.  The  Fourth  Gospel  is  said  to  have 
been  directed  against  this  heresy.  In  Colossians 
the  allusions  to  it  are  especially  prominent.  Gnos- 
ticism is  a  kind  of  premature  philosophy  of  evolu- 
tion: speculative,  not  scientific;  also  inverted. 
From  the  Absolute  Being,  as  from  an  infinite 
abyss,  all  things  have  proceeded  by  an  unfold- 
ment  in  eons,  or  orders,  of  celestial  beings,  grad- 
ed downward,  each  successive  order  emanating 
from  the  last  foregoing.  These  divine  beings  are 
emanations  of  the  attributes  of  God,  and  they 
form  an  unbroken  series  between  him  and  the  ma- 
terial world.  The  Logos,  or  Messiah,  is  one  of 
these  beings,  who,  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
assumed  the  form  of  man — not  in  permanent  union, 
as  a  real  identification  of  the  human  and  the  divine 
in  one  person,  but  only  for  the  period  of  his  earth- 
ly life. 


Early  Heresies  mid  Formation  of  a  Cation,  87 

The  importance  of  this  teaching  for  two  centu- 
ries in  the  Church  renders  necessary  a  somewhat 
full  account  of  it.  Not  only  were  the  Gnostics 
numerous,  they  possessed  great  culture  and  in- 
fluence. Their  speculations  appealed  forcibl}^  to 
a  speculative  age.  No  teacher  more  thoroughly 
combined  the  various  religions  and  philosophical 
elements  of  that  age  of  eclecticism  and  syncretism. 
Gnosticism  v/as  a  characteristic  product  of  the  time 
in  which  it  flourished,  combining,  as  it  did,  into  an 
impressive  and  universal  system  the  manifold  phi- 
losophies, cults,  and  cosmologies  of  many  peoples 
and  ages.  With  the  facts  of  the  gospel  as  a  basis, 
an  elaborate  theory  of  the  universe  in  accordance 
with  Hellenic  modes  of  thought,  and  with  sugges- 
tions from  the  Semitic  cosmology  of  the  time,  it 
was  constructed  with  marvelous  speculative  ener- 
gy. The  end  of  it  all,  too,  was  practical;  it  was 
no  other  than  redemption  through  Christ — that  is, 
it  ceased  not  to  be  Christian,  in  spite  of  Semitic 
mysticism  and  Hellenic  speculation.  But  the  sal- 
vation which  it  sought  was  to  be  attained  by  en- 
lightenment (yi/wo-ts).  This  gives  its  distinctive 
character  to  Gnosticism.  The  term  itself  is  from 
the  Greek  word  Gnosis  (knowledge) — a  w^ord  used 
frequently  by  St.  Paul,  in  First  and  Second  Co- 
rinthians particularly,  to  designate  a  special  and 
distinct  divine  grace,  a  higher  and  more  perfect 
knowledge  of  Christian  things.  *'  The  belief  that 
Christianity  guarantees  the  perfect  knowledge," 
says  Edwin  Hatch,  '*  and  leads  from  one  degrer 


88  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

of  clearness  to  another,  was  in  operation  from  the 
very  beginning. "  We  have  seen  that  the  apologists 
regarded  Christianity  as  a  philosophy ;  a  revealed 
philosophy,  it  is  true,  but  yet  as  an  enlightening  sys- 
tem of  truth.  The  Gnostics  carried  speculation 
further  until  the  revelation  of  the  gospel  was  trans- 
ferred from  the  realm  of  feeling  and  action  to  the 
world  of  abstract  ideas. 

In  accordance  with  the  claim  which  Gnosticism 
set  up  to  a  special  endowment  of  knowledge,  or 
illumination,  it  gave  its  own  arbitrary,  allegorical 
interpretation  to  the  whole  body  of  Scriptures  and 
to  the  gospel.  "  The  history  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment," says  Ilarnack,  '*  was  here  sublimated  to  a 
history  of  the  emancipation  of  reason  from  pas- 
sion." The  gospel  at  the  same  time  was  con- 
verted into  a  philosophy  of  religion,  a  doctrine  of 
the  higher  enlightenment  of  the  soul,  and  an  initia- 
tion into  mysteries,  whereby  emancipation  from 
evil  might  be  won.  For  enlightenment  must  be 
followed  by  consecration,  and  that  by  abstinence; 
then  would  come  the  perfect  gnosis  and  freedom — 
that  is,  salvation. 

The  problems  with  which  the  Gnostic  Christians 
dealt  were  the  great  problems  of  all  time,  but  prob- 
lems peculiarly  pressing  for  solution,  it  seems,  in 
that  time.  The  more  or  less  fantastic  details  of 
their  tabular  schemes  of  evolution,  their  spiritual 
genealogies,  should  not  blind  us  to  the  high  pur- 
pose and  the  extraordinary  comprehensiveness  of 
<-heir  undertaking.     For  no  less  a  task  did  they  set 


Early  J/c7'esies  and  Kor7naiion  of  a  Canon.  ^(^ 

themselves,  with  the  new  hght  Christianity  gave 
them,  than  to  explain,  first,  the  origin  of  evil,  and 
second,  the  multiplicity  of  finite  existence,  starting 
in  thought  with  an  Absolute  Being,  who  is  all  good. 
The  lines  of  their  attempted  solution  of  these  ever- 
present  problems  can  be  but  barely  indicated  in 
this  place :  God,  being  Absolute,  was  unknowable, 
and  had  no  immediate  relations  with  the  created 
universe ;  matter  is  eternal  and  essentially  evil,  the 
ground  of  all  evil:  from  the  Absolute  Being,  by 
an  unfolding  process,  all  the  spiritual  orders,  or 
eons,  which  were  very  numerous,  have  come  into 
existence;  one  of  this  order,  a  god,  but  not  the 
Supreme  Being,  created  the  world;  hence  its  im- 
perfection; Christ  is  an  eon,  or  spiritual  emana- 
tion of  the  highest  God,  and  reveals  his  character 
and  gives  that  true  knowledge  which  brings  re- 
demption. 

This  may  not  commend  itself  to  the  modern 
mind;  it  may  seem  even  absurd;  but  these  specu- 
lations were  not  the  production  of  frivolous  or 
fantastic  minds;  they  were  the  serious  and  pro- 
found answers  of  serious  and  great  men  to  ques- 
tions with  which  the  sphinx  of  their  age  confronted 
them.  To  quote  the  distinguished  German  histo- 
rian again:  ''The  Gnostics  devoted  their  main 
strength  to  the  working  out  of  those  religious, 
moral,  philosophical,  and  historical  problems  which 
must  engage  the  thoughtful  of  all  times. '* 

An  historical  sketch  is  necessary  to  make  our 
discussion  complete.     Gnosticism  had  its  birth  on 


90  The  Church  of  the  F^athej'S. 

Samaritan  soil,  from  syncretism  of  Semitic,  Hel- 
lenic, and  Christian  ideas.  Simon  Magus,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  was  the  author  of  almost  all  here- 
sies. Proclaiming  himself  to  be  "  the  great  power 
of  God,"  he  seems  in  truth  to  have  originated  a 
scheme  of  universal  religion  which  had  Gnostic 
elements.  Redemption  meant,  in  his  teaching, 
emancipation  from  the  world-powers — that  is,  de- 
mons— through  enlightenment.  Cerinthus,  who 
flourished  near  the  close  of  the  first  century  in  Asia 
Minor,  seems  to  have  derived  his  peculiar  ideas  from 
Alexandria,  a  seat  of  Hellenic  speculation.  The 
world-creator,  he  taught,  was  not  the  highest  God, 
but  an  inferior  angelic  being,  one  ignorant  of  the 
true  God.  We  find  something  similar  to  this  in  the 
book  of  Proverbs  (chapter  viii.),  where  Wisdom, 
personified,  is  represented  as  the  creator  of  the 
world.  The  Jews,  according  to  Cerinthus,  had  no 
revelation  of  the  Supreme,  but  only  of  the  lower 
creative  God. 

Basilides,  who  lived  at  Alexandria  in  the  reign 
of  Hadrian,  was  one  of  the  most  notable  of  the 
Gnostics,  tje  was  a  disciple  of  Menander,  who 
was  a  disciple  of  Simon  Magus.  Valentinus,  how- 
ever, who  lived  first  at  Alexandria  and  then  at 
Rome,  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
is  the  completest  exponent  of  Gnostic  doc- 
trines. His  system  of  the  evolution  of  eons,  or 
spiritual  orders,  from  the  primitive  and  Absolute 
Being  is  described  as  artistic  and  profound. 
**  Valentinus    was    the    most   important    Christian 


Early  Heresies  and  Formation  of  a  Canon.  91 

theologian  before  Origen."  Indeed,  the  great 
Alexandrians,  both  Clement  and  Origen,  were  his 
pupils. 

At  the  same  time  with  Valentinus  flourished 
Marcion,  the  most  formidable  of  heretics.  He 
numbered  distinguished  followers,  as  one  of  the 
old  historians  relates,  in  *' every  country."  While 
a  Gnostic,  he  advocated  some  views  which  make 
Marcionism,  in  a  measure,  a  separate  heresy.  He 
was  irreproachable  in  manner  of  life  and  strict  in 
Church  discipline.  One  of  his  transmitted  say- 
ings would  lead  us  to  have  a  very  high  opinion 
of  his  religious  principles:  *' They  who  believe 
in  Christ  and  lead  a  holy  life  out  of  love  to  God 
shall  attain  to  bliss  in  the  heavenly  kingdom." 
Christ  came  to  reveal  the  hitherto  unrevealed 
good  God — not  the  just  God  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, who  said  "an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth 
for  a  tooth,"  but  Him  who  gave  the  new  com- 
mandment, "  If  any  smite  thee  on  the  right 
cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also."  This  distinc- 
tion of  the  God  of  the  Jews — Jehovah — the  Crea- 
tor of  the  world,  from  the  Absolute  Being,  the 
highest  God,  declared  only  by  Jesus  Christ,  is 
common  to  Gnosticism  in  all  its  branches.  Mar- 
cion was  distinguished  by  the  force  and  moral 
earnestness  of  his  opposition  to  the  worship  of  Je- 
hovah, who  is  represented  by  Isaiah  as  saying,  "  I 
create  evil."  Christ  undid  the  law  of  this  "just" 
God,  and  put  in  its  stead  the  law  of  the  good 
God,  his  Father.     Jehovah  was  hard,  passionate, 


02  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

and  no  more  than  just;   the  God  whom  Jesus  re- 
veals is  loving  and  gracious. 

This  halting  at  the  acceptance  of  the  Jewish 
Scriptures  and  the  God  they  reveal,  a  reluctance 
on  the  part  of  some  of  the  most  serious-minded 
and  spiritual  of  that  age,  bears  witness  to  a  real 
difficulty  which  only  the  correcter  way  of  inter- 
preting Scripture  and  God's  methods  of  teaching 
the  race  could  surmount. 

The  Gnostics  made  important  contributions  to 
Christian  literature.  Bardesanes,  of  Edessa,  was 
the  father  of  church  song.  Tatian,  of  Syria,  was 
the  author  of  the  first  harmony  of  the  gospels,  the 
famous  "  Diatessaron."  The  first  commentaries, 
the  first  theological  treatises,  the  first  doctrinal  sys- 
tems, the  first  collection  of  New  Testament  writ- 
ings, w^ere  made  by  Gnostics.  Moral  ardor  and 
mental  energy  were  combined  in  them  in  an  un- 
usually high  degree  for  any  age.  Their  permanent 
and  great  contribution  to  the  Christian  Church  is 
expressed  by  Prof essor  A.  V.  G.  Allen  as  "  the  rec- 
ognition of  Christ  as  having  a  world-wide  relation- 
ship, and  the  need  of  Greek  culture  and  philoso- 
phy as  aids  in  the  formation  of  a  consistent  the- 
ology." 

3.  Monarch  I  ANisM. 

In  opposition  to  Gnosticism  and  in  defense  of 
the  unity  of  the  Godhead,  there  arose  toward  the 
end  of  the  second  century  within  the  Church  the 
form  of  doctrine  which  Tertullian,  its  great  op- 
ponent,  called    Monarchianism,   which  our   mod- 


Early  Hej'csies  and  Eorjnation  of  a  Canon.  93 

ern  word  monarchy  fully  explains.  Its  authors 
were  zealous  for  the  single  supreme  authority  of 
God;  but  their  zeal  led  them,  in  two  parties,  to 
opposite  errors — that  is,  into  what  the  Church 
condemned  as  heresy.  The  task  lay  upon  the 
thinkers  of  that  age  to  explain  Christ,  and  in  do- 
ing this  it  not  unfrequently  happened  that  the  op- 
ponents of  one  class  of  heretics  heard  the  cry  of 
heresy  raised  against  themselves. 

The  Monarchians,  agreeing  in  their  doctrine  of 
the  supremacy  of  God,  the  Father,  differed  in 
their  explanation  of  this  supremacy;  and  both 
parties  became  heretical  regarding  the  nature  of 
Christ.  The  one  sect,  whose  descent  was  traced 
from  Theodotus,  who  was  excommunicated  about 
A.D.  195,  and  from  Artemon,  who  was  excom- 
municated a  generation  later,  represented  in  fact 
an  early  Judaistic  tradition  of  Christ  as  a  mere 
man  who  received  favor  of  God  by  obedience  and 
a  special  endowment  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  his 
baptism,  whereby  he  became  the  Son  of  God. 
Hence  these  Monarchians  were  known  as  **adop- 
tionists"  and  "hurrsanitarians."  Paul  of  Samo- 
sata,  who  was  deposed  about  A.D.  268  from  the 
bishopric  of  Antioch,  represents  the  highest  out- 
come of  this  teaching,  and  the  sect  is  often  spo- 
ken of,  therefore,  as  *'  Samosatians."  His  doc- 
trines may  be  summed  up  in  four  propositions:  i. 
The  Logos  and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  not  persons 
but  powers,  or  qualities,  like  reason  and  love.  2. 
The  Logos  dwelt  not  in  RMl:»stance  but  in  quality 


94  Th  e  Ch  it  rch  of  tJi  e  jFath  ers . 

in  Christ  in  an  extraordinary  degree.  3.  Jesus 
was  elevated  by  merit  gradually  to  divine  dignity 
and  sonship.  4.  He  became  a  Saviour  by  thus 
elevating  himself,  by  not  sinning,  but  by  triumph- 
ing over  evil.  Two  synods  discussed  the  doctrine 
without  effecting  a  settlement;  a  third  deposed 
and  excommunicated  the  head  of  the  sect. 

The  other  sect  of  Monarchians  destro3^ed  the 
human  part  of  Christ's  nature.  God  was  in  him 
"the  central  factor  of  his  being."  He  was  not 
"very  man,"  but  only  a  theophan}^  a  shadowy 
presence  of  God — no  real  incarnation,  no  genuine 
union  of  God  and  man  in  one  person,  the  God- 
man.  The  several  designations — Father,  Son, 
Holy  Spirit — "  denote  the  same  divine  nature  un- 
der successive  forms  of  manifestation."  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  in  other  words,  are  but 
three  successive  stages  in  the  divine  economy, 
three  several  modes  of  the  manifestation  of 
Deity.  This  class  of  Monarchians  are,  on  this 
account,  often  called  Modalists.  But  since  they 
abolished  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  and  taught 
that  God  himself  became  man  and  suffered,  they 
are  also  called  Patripassians.  Tertullian  says  of 
Praxeas,  an  early  representative  of  this  school, 
that  at  Rome  "he  drove  out  the  Paraclete  and  cru- 
cified the  Father. ' '  Noetus,  another  distinguished 
Monarchian,  declared  that  the  "Father  himself 
was  born,  suffered,  and  died,"  and  that  "  Christ 
was  the  one  God  over  all."  Notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  several  popes  of  Rome  in  this  century 


Early  Heresies  and  Formation  of  a  Canon.  95 

were  adherents  to  this  doctrine,  it  was  finally  reject- 
ed by  the  Church.  Neither  the  humanity  nor  the 
divinity  of  Christ  must  be  impaired.  The  loss  of 
either  element  from  his  nature  destroyed  his  unique- 
ness and  his  character  as  Saviour  of  mankind. 

Sabellius,  who  flourished  at  Rome  about  the 
year  200,  gives  the  completest  expression  to  Mo- 
dalistic  or  Patripassian  Monarchianism.  The  sect 
is  sometimes  called  after  him  **  Sabellians."  The 
unity  of  the  divine  essence,  a  plurality  of  manifes- 
tations, constitutes  a  summary  of  this  doctrine.  It 
opened  up  the  way  for  the  trinitarian  creed  of  the 
first  Ecumenical  Council. 

One  result  of  the  rise  of  so  many  doctrinal  con- 
tentions in  the  Church  was  the  recognition  of  the 
necessity  of  a  norma  Jidei^  a  criterion  of  doctrines, 
an  authoritative  source  of  teaching. 

4.  The  Formation  of  the  Canon. 

The  young  Church  set  itself,  therefore,  to  the 
determination  of  what  should  constitute  its  au- 
thoritative body  of  sacred  Scripture.  While  prior 
to  the  year  150  it  yet  possessed  the  **  living  voice," 
only  the  Old  Testament  writings  were  called 
*' Scripture."  The  first  step  from  this  position 
was  to  quote  the  sayings  of  our  Lord  from  the 
"memoirs"  of  the  apostles,  emplojdng  the  form- 
ula, "  as  it  is  written,"  used  formerly  only  of  ''the 
Jewish  canon."  But  as  time  enhanced  in  author- 
\\y  and  sanctity  the  words  of  the  writers,  they 
too  came  to  be  introduced  by  the  same  formula. 


96  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Thus  the  four  gospels  came  earliest  to  be  au- 
thoritative Christian  Scriptures  :  this  about  the 
middle  of  the  second  century.  As  yet  no  canon- 
ical principle  had  been  developed,  except  the  un- 
certain one  that  the  document  should  contain  true 
sayings  of  our  Lord.  The  question  of  authorship 
seems  not  to  have  entered  into  consideration. 

It  became  a  custom,  first  mentioned  by  Justin 
Martyr,  to  read  from  these  "memoirs,"  or  gos- 
pels, in  the  Sunday  assemblies  of  the  Christians. 
But  long  before  this,  indeed  before  any  gospel  had 
been  written,  it  was  in  vogue  for  prominent  church- 
es, or  heads  of  churches,  to  address  letters  of  com- 
fort, instruction,  and  exhortation  to  other  churches 
or  individuals.  Thus  arose  the  epistolary  litera- 
ture, of  which  there  are  many  eminent  represent- 
atives, St.  Paul  the  most  eminent.  The  circula- 
tion of  these  letters  was  not  always  originally  con- 
templated; and  only  when  addressed  to  a  church, 
rather  than  an  individual,  was  it  meant  for  public 
reading.  Hence  the  reading  of  the  early  epistles 
was  not  a  regular  thing.  But  antiquity  tends  to 
bestow  sanctity,  and  in  time  these  first  expositions 
of  Christian  life  and  doctrine  assumed  a  higher  sa- 
credness. 

It  was  only  gradually,  in  course  of  many  years, 
that  a  collection  of  either  gospels  or  epistles  was 
made.  The  grouping  of  the  gospels  together  as 
an  ecclesiastical  canon  took  place  not  earlier  than 
the  last  quarter  of  the  second  century;  and  this 
preceded    the    similar    grouping   of    the    epistles. 


Early  Heresies  and  Formation  of  a.  Canon.  97 

Tatian  (died  A.D.  172)  combined  the  gospels  into 
his"  Diatessaron,"  and  his  free  abridgment  of  them 
in  this  process  indicates  that  as  yet  they  did  not 
possess  that  sacredness  to  which  they  afterwards 
attained.  There  was  no  protest  against  this  free 
handhng  of  the  records. 

In  the  formation  of  the  canon  the  greatest  di- 
versity of  opinion  existed  regarding  the  epistolary 
and  the  apocalyptic  writings.  There  were  many 
for  several  centuries  who  rejected  James,  Second 
Peter,  Second  and  Third  John,  Hebrews,  and  the 
Apocalypse  of  John ;  while  many  during  the  same 
period  accepted  Clement,  Diognetus,  the  Shep- 
herd of  Hermas,  and  the  Apocalypse  of  Peter. 
The  very  highest  authorities  are  found  maintain- 
ing each  of  these  positions.  The  Muratorian 
Fragment  (the  fragment  of  an  early  canon),  sup- 
posed to  date  from  A.D.  170-200,  excludes  nearly 
all  those  in  the  first  list,  and  includes  the  Apoca- 
lypse of  Peter.  It  was  about  this  time  the  title 
"  Novum  Testamentum"  came  into  use;  but  as  for 
a  closed  canon,  that  is  a  thing  of  the  future.  But 
the  original  cause  of  the  agitation  of  the  matter — 
namely,  heresy — continues  as  a  hastening  influence. 
The  part  played  by  heretics  in  the  process  itself 
is  worthy  of  remark.  The  Gnostic  Marcion  was 
the  first  to  attempt  a  canon.  The  first  exegetical 
and  commentary  work  was  put  forth  by  heretics. 
They  were  also  the  first  to  appeal  to  the  evangeli- 
cal writings  in  their  controversies. 

The  process  of  forming  a  canon  went  on  independ- 
7 


pS  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

ently,  but  not  without  reciprocal  influence,  in  the 
East  and  the  West.  In  the  East,  by  the  middle  of 
the  fourth  century,  substantial  agreement  had  been 
reached,  although  many  of  the  documents  in  the 
two  lists  presented  above  were  still  in  dispute.  In 
many  canons  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas  and  the  two 
Epistles  of  Clement  are  included,  while  the  Apoca- 
lypse of  Peter  stands  in  higher  favor  than  the  Apoca- 
lypse of  John.  In  the  West,  that  the  canon  was  not 
closed  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century  is  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that  Rufinus  and  Jerome  regard 
the  Shepherd  of  Hermas  as  part  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. But  the  great  influence  of  Athanasius  and 
of  Augustine  determined  the  canon  of  the  W^est  to 
be  pretty  much  as  we  now  have  it,  though  the  pa- 
pal chair  issued  no  bull  to  that  effect  till  A.D. 
1441.  *'This  was  the  first  decision  of  universal 
validity  in  the  matter  of  a  canon." 

Luther's  freedom  in  criticising  the  traditional 
canon  will  be  brought  to  mind.  He  found  partic- 
ular objection  to  James,  Hebrews,  the  Apocalypse, 
and  Estlier;  and  of  the  book  of  Jonah,  he  said  it 
was  *'more  lying  and  more  absurd  than  any  fable 
of  the  poets."  But  Luther  was  no  more  infallible 
than  the  popes  and  councils,  of  which  he  said  he 
trusted  neither. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

I.  On  Gnosticism,  Harnack,  "History  of  Dogma" — a  great 
work — has  two  very  instructive  chapters  (Vol.  I.,  Chapters  IV. 
and  v.),  the  titles  of  which  indicate  his  point  of  view.  They 
read  as  follows:  "Chapter  IV.  The  attempts  of  the  Gnostics  to 
create  an  apostolic  dogma,  and  a  Christian  theology;  or  the 


Early  Heresies  and  Formation  of  a  Canon.  99 

acute  secularization  of  Christianity.  Chapter  V.  Marcion's  at- 
tempt to  set  aside  the  Old  Testament  foundation  of  Christian- 
ity, to  purify  tradition,  and  to  reform  Christendom  on  the  basis 
of  the  Pauline  gospel." 

2.  Dr.  Bernhard  Weiss's  "Manual  of  Introduction  to  the 
New  Testament"  (two  volumes,  Funk  and  Wagnalls  Compa- 
ny) contains  a  good  brief  account  of  the  formation  of  the  canon. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  ORGANIZATION. 


"The  Roman  Church  displays  from  the  beginning  the  essen- 
tial characteristics  which  distinguished  it  throughout  its  long 
and  marvelous  history.  The  legitimate  daughter  of  Jerusalem, 
the  Roman  Chuichwili  always  have  a  certain  ascetic  and  sacer- 
dotal character,  opposed  to  the  Protestant  tendency  of  Paul. 
Peter  will  be  her  real  head;  afterwards,  as  the  political  and 
hierarchical  spirit  of  old  Rome  penetrates  her,  she  will  truly 
become  the  New  Jerusalem — the  city  of  the  pontificate,  of  a 
hieratic  and  solemn  religion,  of  material  sacraments  alone 
sufficient  for  justification.  She  will  be  the  Church  of  au- 
thority.    .     .     . 

"  In  the  reign  of  Antoninus  the  germ  of  the  papacy  already 
exists  in  a  very  definite  form.  The  Church  of  Rome  shows 
itself  increasingly  indifferent  to  those  visionary  speculations 
which  were  the  delightof  minds  full  of  the  intellectual  activity 
of  the  Greeks,  but  at  the  same  time  corrupted  by  the  dreams  of 
the  East.  The  organization  of  Christian  society  was  the  chief 
work  pursued  at  Rome.  That  wonderful  city  brought  to  this 
task  the  exclusively'  practical  genius  and  the  powerful  moral 
energy  which  she  has  applied  in  so  many  different  ways.  Al- 
most careless  of  speculation,  decisively  hostile  to  novelties  of 
doctrine,  she  presided,  as  a  mistress  already  practiced  in  the  art, 
over  all  the  changes  which  took  place  in  the  discipline  and  the 
hierarchy  of  the  Church.'' — Renan. 
(I02) 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  ORGANIZATION. 

"  Wherever  Jesus  Christ  is,  there  is  the  Catholic  Church."— 
Ignatius. 

"  He  that  has  not  the  Church  for  his  mother  cannot  have  God 
for  his  Father." — Cyprian. 

"  Rome  has  spoken,  the  matter  is  settled." — Augustine. 

1. 

These  three  memorable  sayings — the  first  from 
early  in  the  second  centur}^,  the  second  from  the 
middle  of  the  third,  and  the  last  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifth — indicate  a  growth  in  the  theory 
and  organization  of  the  Church  which  it  will  be  the 
aim  of  this  chapter  to  sketch.  In  very  early  times, 
as  revealed  in  the  pastoral  epistles  addressed  to 
Timothy  and  Titus,  there  were  bishops,  presby- 
ters, and  deacons,  who  administered  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  and  taught  its  doctrines.  ( The 
date  of  these  epistles,  however,  is  still  in  dispute.) 
Besides  these,  there  were  **  apostles,"  "evangel- 
ists," ''prophets,"  and  *' pastors  and  teachers" 
(Eph.  iv.  II),  who  had,  each  several  order,  their 
distinct  and  special  functions.  When  we  enter 
the  times  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  we  find  that  a 
stricter  ecclesiastical  organization  has  caused  the 
disappearance  of  some  of  these  latter  classes;  yet 
in  the  "  Didache  "  evidence  exists  that  *'  apostles," 
"prophets,"  and  ** teachers"  still  continue  as  a 
sort  of  itinerant  ministry.     In  the  same  document 

(103) 


104  ^^^^  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

we  find  that  there  is  a  plural  episcopacy — that  is, 
two  or  more  bishops  over  one  church — and  that 
deacons  perform  with  them  about  the  same  func- 
tions. The  presbyters,  or  elders,  both  rule  and 
teach,  and  are  shepherds  of  the  flock.  A  close 
analogy,  it  will  be  observed,  exists  here  between 
the  functionaries  of  the  church  and  those  of  the 
synagogue.  The  Jewish  institution,  which  was 
the  mother  of  the  Christian  society,  had  not  only 
its  high  priest,  priests,  and  Levites — officers  large- 
ly dispensed  with  in  the  new  order  by  the  ministry 
of  the  one  true  High  Priest,  who  '*  offered  one  sac- 
rifice for  sin  forever" — but  also  its  elders,  or  pres- 
byters; its  ruler,  or  presiding  officer,  correspond- 
ing to  the  bishop;  its  almoners,  or  deacons;  its  min- 
ister, or  servant,  also  a  deacon;  and,  analogous  to 
the  Christian  apostles,  teachers,  and  evangelists, 
its  volunteer  preachers,  readers,  and  prayers. 

The  influence,  furthermore,  of  the  pagan  reli- 
gious societies,  which  were  at  that  time  very  nu- 
merous and  active,  was  also  undoubtedly  consid- 
erable. These  fraternities,  each  with  its  own  tute- 
lary divinity,  had  their  regular  meeting,  or  ''  sacred 
synod,"  their  common  meal,  their  common  fund 
of  alms,  and  an  administrative  officer,  whom  they 
called  episkopos^  or  bishop.  Heathen  temples, 
moreover,  had  their  deacons  and  deaconesses,  and 
many  rites  and  ceremonies  closely  resembling  those 
of  the  Church.  As  to  Him  * '  through  whom  are  all 
things,"  so  to  his  Church  are  all  things. 

In  the  earliest  '* Apostolic  Canons" — a  sort  of 


Ecclesiastical  Organization.  105 

constitution  of  the  Church — which  began  to  be 
created  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
the  functions  and  qualifications  of  five  classes  are 
set  forth  : 

I .  Of  bishops  these  canons  say  they  shall  be  elect- 
ed by  the  congregation,  or  if  that  does  not  contain 
twelve  men,  then  the  election  shall  be  by  three 
invited  select  men  from  a  neighboring  see.  The 
bishop  must  have  "a  good  report  among  the  hea- 
then" and  be  "a  friend  of  the  poor."  Marriage 
is  not  forbidden  him,  there  is  no  age  qualification, 
and  learning  is  said  not  to  be  necessary.  2.  The 
presbyters  must  be  elderly  and  unmarried.  They 
are  to  have  oversight  and  control  of  the  bishop  in 
the  distribution  of  the  gifts  at  the  altar,  which 
seems  to  have  been  the  bishop's  chief  function. 
They  are  also  a  directing,  disciplining,  and  jurid- 
ical council  to  the  congregation.  3.  One  desig- 
nated as  * '  reader ' '  seems  to  have  succeeded  to  the 
divers  functions  of  apostle,  prophet,  and  teacher 
of  an  earlier  day.  He  was  to  have  a  good  moral 
character,  a  good  delivery,  and  ability  to  expound 
Scripture.  In  other  words,  he  was  the  preacher. 
4.  There  should  be  three  deacons,  who  were  to 
be  *'maintainers,  ministers,  and  comforters  of  the 
congregation  in  their  daily  life."  5.  Three  wid- 
ows also  were  to  be  selected  in  each  society,  if  it 
contained  so  many,  whose  duties  were  to  pray  and 
to  nurse — two  of  the  three  being  assigned  to  the 
former  and  one  to  the  latter  task. 

Circumstances  in  time  brought  about  the  eleva- 


io6  The  ChtD'ch  of  the  fathers. 

tion  o1;  the  administrative  office  of  the  bishop,  and 
established  him  in  supremacy  as  the  head  of  the 
congregation.  The  eleemosynary  and  discipHna- 
ry  functions,  which  were  of  chief  importance  in 
the  early  Church,  came  into  his  hands  exclusively 
and,  by  the  service  performed,  heightened  his  dig- 
nity. Furthermore,  he  came  to  be  thought  of  as 
the  successor  of  an  apostle — in  the  original  limited 
sense,  not  the  later  and  extended  sense,  of  that 
word.  Therefore,  in  a  time  when  there  began  to 
be  need,  he  was  regarded  as  the  custodian  and 
transmitter  of  apostolic  teaching  and  faith.  As 
there  was  an  unbroken  succession  of  rabbis  even 
from  Moses's  time,  so  there  was  in  the  Church  a 
complete  series  of  teachers  from  the  apostles. 
Moreover,  to  preserve  the  unity  of  doctrine  and 
of  discipline  throughout  the  whole  Church,  suc- 
cessors of  the  apostles,  as  heads  of  the  several 
churches,  were  required.  By  tradition  these  were 
the  bishops.  Again,  the  rise  of  heresies  and  the 
absence  of  a  standard  of  doctrine,  or  rule  of  faith, 
worked  to  the  same  end — the  calling  into  promi- 
nence of  one  single  authoritative  head  for  each 
congregation. 

To  sum  up  results.  Regarding  the  episcopacy 
of  the  early  Church,  we  note  a  few  interesting 
facts:  I.  It  was  originall}^  local,  not  diocesan.  2. 
It  was  administrative,  not  priestly,  or  clerical.  3. 
It  was  sometimes  plural.  In  the  second  century,  as 
attested  near  its  close  by  Irenseus,  who  was  bishop 
of   Lyons  in   Gaul,  there  gradually  took  place  a 


Ecclesiastical  Organization.  107 

change.  First,  a  sharp  distinction  arose  between 
the  clergy  and  laity — which  distinction  hardly  ex- 
isted in  the  Apostolic  Church.  Secondly,  there 
came  to  be  a  permanent,  settled  ministry — a  bish- 
op for  each  congregation.  Thirdly,  to  these,  as 
successors  of  the  apostles  and  the  transmitters 
from  them  of  the  true  faith  and  doctrine,  a  spe- 
cial grace,  an  illumination  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  be- 
longed. Fourthly,  they  have  a  general  relation  to 
the  Church  universal. 

As  the  Church  grew,  and  its  organization  de- 
veloped, it  assumed  more  and  more  the  pattern  of 
the  Roman  empire.  By  this  time — the  year  200 
— it  had  become  as  extended  as  that  empire,  and 
was  rapidly  gaining  upon  it  in  power.  Its  teach- 
ers had  followed  the  soldiers — the  Word  of  peace 
pursuing  the  arms  of  conquest.  All  the  larger 
cities  and  many  of  the  smaller  towns  had  their 
churches  and  their  bishops,  presbyters,  and  dea- 
cons. The  perfecting  of  the  organization  pro- 
ceeded on  the  models  offered  by  the  empire. 
First,  the  territorial  divisions  were  made  to  co- 
incide. The  bishop  then  was  elevated  from  his 
position  as  pastor  of  a  single  flock  to  the  over- 
sight of  a  district,  or  diocese.  Presbyters  became 
priests,  each  in  charge  of  a  separate  congregation 
within  or  around  the  cit}^.  This  brought  about 
two  results — a  diminishing  of  the  number  of  bish- 
ops, and  an  elevation  of  them  in  dignity.  In  the 
larger  eastern  cities — Jerusalem,  Constantinople, 
Antioch,  etc. — the  bishop  received  the  title  of  Pa- 


lOo  The  Church  of  the  JFaihers. 

triarch  or  Archbishop ;  in  the  chief  western  cities^ 
the  latter  title  or  the  designation  of  Metropolitan 
was  bestowed  upon  him. 

About  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  there 
emerged  to  view  two  conceptions  that  were  des- 
tined to  be  of  supreme  moment  in  Christian  history. 
The  first  was  the  idea  of  the  Catholic — that  is,  uni- 
versal— Church;  the  second  was  the  theory  of  the 
supremacy  of  Rome.  Neither  was  of  sudden  birth 
or  fortuitous  origin,  but  they  were  alike  the  slow 
products  of  time  and  favoring  conditions.  The 
conception  of  a  Church  universal,  it  seems,  should 
always  have  existed;  but  from  the  manner  of  the 
planting  of  the  gospel  in  various  lands — Greece, 
Egypt,  Arabia,  Italy,  Gaul — by  independent  mis- 
sionaries, it  was  not  so.  The  term  when  first  used 
by  Ignatius  means  only  general  as  opposed  to  par- 
ticular; and  when  next  used,  in  the  Muratorian 
Fragment,  about  A.D.  175,  it  refers  to  doctrinal 
unity.  Not  until  we  come  to  Irenaius  do  we  find 
it  used  in  the  now  accepted  sense  of  the  one  or- 
ganized, orthodox  Church.  The  Roman  idea  of 
imperial  unity  and  universal  dominion  had  inspired 
this  idea  and  ambition  into  the  Church.  Cyprian, 
bishop  of  Carthage  (248  to  258;,  thoroughly  domi- 
nated by  Roman  ideas  of  government,  did  more 
than  anybody  else  to  impress  the  doctrine  of  eccle- 
siastical unity  and  of  Catholicism.  '*The  Church 
is  one,"  ''the  episcopate  is  one,"  he  asserted  with 
great  force.  It  was  a  useful  and  sublime  concep- 
tion.    Only  the  abuse  of  it  ever  wrought  harm. 


Ecclesiastical  Organization,  109 

II. 

There  were  many  circumstances  that  favored 
the  supremacy  of  Rome  as  the  reHgious  capital  of 
the  West.  To  begin  with,  the  idea  of  the  eternity 
of  the  city  was  firmly  implanted  in  the  minds  of  all 
who  had  come  under  her  marvelous  sway.  The 
name  of  Rome  stood  for  all  that  was  imposing, 
mighty,  and  enduring  in  earthly  power.  Under 
the  magic  of  this  enthralling  spell  of  a  name  the  bar- 
barians themselves  came  when  they  poured  into  the 
plains  of  Italy  out  of  the  frozen  North.  This  tem- 
poral authority  and  power  of  ancient  association  af- 
forded a  basis  for  a  spiritual  dominion  as  extensive 
and  more  pervasive — which  the  succession  of  illus- 
trious, imperially-minded  potentates,  whom  we  are 
now  to  study,  were  not  slow  to  create.  But  such  a 
spiritual  dominion  would  never  have  been  erected 
had  there  been  no  cause  beyond  this.  A  cathedral  is 
not  built  because  there  happens  to  be  a  good  foun- 
dation prepared  for  it  amid  the  ruins  of  a  heathen 
temple.  If  there  is  a  cause  for  a  Christian  edifice, 
the  heathen  foundation  is  a  favoring  provision. 
Christendom  in  the  then  state  of  society  seemed 
to  require  an  ecclesiastical  head — a  supreme  au- 
thority upon  earth.  This  was  not  provided  for  by 
the  ecumenical  councils,  for  they  were  irregular  in 
occurrence;  there  was  no  general  government  of 
the  Church.  But  of  such  government  there  was 
a  deeply  felt  and  general  need.  The  prelates  of 
different  sees  were  in  continual  rivalry,  ofttimes 
in  open  strife.     One  invisible  Head  they  all  recog- 


no  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

nized — theoretically  at  least — but  a  visible  Church 
on  earth  requires  a  visible  head  on  earth. 

There  was  much  besides  what  has  been  indi- 
cated to  favor  the  bishop  of  Rome.  The  primacy 
of  St.  Peter  among  the  apostles,  and  the  belief  that 
the  see  of  Rome  was  of  his  founding,  early  pos- 
sessed the  mind  of  the  Church.  Hence  the  suc- 
cessor of  St.  Peter  easily  came  to  be,  according 
to  the  theory  of  apostolic  succession  through  the 
bishops,  the  inheritor  of  his  authority;  and  soon 
from  the  rank  of  primacy  he  rose,  by  sure  devel- 
opment of  influence,  to  supremacy. 

The  occupants  of  the  episcopal  chair  at  Rome, 
it  is  notable,  were  for  the  most  part  men  of  ex- 
traordinary administrative  ability.  This  was  their 
racial  inheritance.  The  Roman  see,  in  conse- 
quence, possessed  a  dignity,  founded  upon  its  high 
antiquity,  its  regularity  of  succession,  and  the  em- 
inence of  its  bishop,  which  did  not  belong  to  any 
other  possible  candidate  in  the  West. 

Again,  the  rivalry  of  the  great  eastern  bishoprics 
— Antioch,  Constantinople,  Alexandria — advanced 
the  honor  of  Rome.  For  not  unfrequently  in  their 
zealous  controversies  they  appealed  to  her  for  a 
decision,  and  continually  therefore  courted  her 
favor.  Likewise  the  provinces — Spain,  Gaul,  Af- 
rica, and  others — had  each  their  quarrels  to  arbi- 
trate, and  circumstances  favored  Rome,  since  even 
then  all  roads  led  there,  as  umpire.  The  seven- 
hilled  city  therefore  succeeded  herself  as  the  mis- 
tress of  the  world .  As  her  temporal  power  sank  into 


Ecclesiastical  Organizaiioji.  iii 

the  decrepitude  of  age,  her  spiritual  power  rose  in 
the  vigor  of  a  youth  renewed  like  the  eagle's. 

A  few  historical  facts  will  indicate  the  rise  of 
Roman  pretensions.  Pope  Victor  (189-199)  threat- 
ened the  entire  Eastern  Church  with  excommuni- 
cation. Pope  Callistus  (  217-222)  was  called  "Pon- 
tifex  Maximus  "  hy  Tertullian,  by  which  was  indi- 
cated the  idea  that  the  bishop  of  Rome  was  high 
priest  of  the  empire.  Pope  Stephen  (254-257),  on 
the  basis  of  the  primacy  of  St.  Peter,  "the  first 
bishop  of  Rome,"  set  up  claims  to  universal 
control  over  the  whole  Church — but  premature- 
ly, for  they  were  successfully  resisted.  To  Pope 
Julius  the  Council  of  Sardica  in  344  (or  347)  con- 
ferred by  canons  the  authority  of  settling  appeals 
in  case  of  the  retrial  of  a  bishop.  The  Roman  see 
was  thereby  recognized  as  the  court  of  final  appeal 
in  the  Church.  Innocent  the  Great  (401-417)  was 
the  first  to  assert  and  maintain  a  universal  authori- 
ty. Born  at  Albano,  in  Roman  territory,  he  was  a 
Roman  in  character,  bold,  imperious,  and  conquer- 
ing. Not  less  also  was  he  saintl}^  in  life.  He  was 
exactly  such  a  man  as  the  conjunction  of  events 
and  conditions  required  to  advance  the  episcopal 
chair  to  the  dignity  of  an  imperial  throne.  He 
assumed  authority  over  all  the  provinces.  In  the 
management  of  the  affairs  of  the  Church  he  com- 
bined the  tact  of  the  politician  with  the  wisdom  of 
the  statesman .  A  superior  faculty  for  organization , 
the  Roman  genius  for  law  and  government,  con- 
duced to  the  elevation  of  Rome  to  supremacy. 


112  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Disaster  itself  favored  the  advancement  of 
Rome.  When  the  Goths,  under  Alaric,  captured 
and  sacked  the  city,  it  was  pagan  Rome  only  that 
was  destroyed.  She  rose  from  her  ashes  a  Chris- 
tian Rome.  And  her  bishop  had  gained  in  power. 
Potent  as  was  the  character  and  influence  of  In- 
nocent, a  successor,  after  an  interval,  in  the  papal 
chair,  was  even  more  eminent  and  powerful.  The 
pontificate  of  Leo  the  Great  (440-461)  constitutes 
an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  Like  In- 
nocent, a  Roman  of  the  antique  type,  ambitious 
and  imperious,  asserting  that,  as  seemed  true, 
Rome's  temporal  dominion  was  but  the  type  and 
preparation  of  her  greater  spiritual  dominion,  he 
used  every  opportunity  with  far-seeing  wisdom  to 
exalt  her  power. 

The  edict  of  Valentinian,  A.D.  347,  declared  that 
the  decree  of  the  bishop  of  Rome  should  be  law ; 
and  upon  this  legal  basis  Leo  asserted  his  suprem- 
acy over  the  Roman  provinces.  A  favoring  circum- 
stance was  the  fact  of  a  dearth  of  able  men  during 
his  time:  there  was  no  one  to  contest  his  claims. 
He  was  the  man  required  to  fulfill  the  tendency  of 
history.  Basing  his  claim  to  authority  upon  the 
theory  of  the  perpetual  continuance  of  St.  Peter 
as  chief  of  the  apostles,  he  carried  his  authority 
either  in  person  or  by  delegation  into  every  Roman 
province  and  ruled  like  an  emperor.  *'  The  care 
of  the  universal  Church  should  converge  toward 
St.  Peter's  one  seat,  and  nothing  anywhere  should 
be  separated  from  its  head,''     So  he  writes  in  one 


Ecclesiastical  Organization.  '  113 

of  his  letters.  The  various  heresies  which  his  in- 
fluence was  needed  to  put  down  or  check  gave 
him  his  opportunities.  With  the  abihties  of  a 
statesman  he  availed  himself  of  every  advantage 
thus  offered  to  elevate  the  power  of  Rome .  ' '  There 
is  no  part  of  the  policy  of  the  future  papacy," 
says  Professor  Emerton,  "  which  we  do  not  see 
clearly  outlined  in  the  work  of  Leo." 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  growth  of  ec- 
clesiasticism  took  place  without  opposition .  There 
were  two  stupendous  protests,  organized  and  gen- 
eral: they  were,  first,  Montanism,  and  then  Mo- 
nasticism. 

At  a  time  when  the  original  spirit  of  Christian- 
ity, its  zeal  for  daily  newness  of  life  and  for  com- 
munion with  the  living  God,  and  for  the  perpetual 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  seemed  waning,  and 
the  spirit  of  Churchianity  and  of  elaborate  formal- 
ism and  of  sacerdotalism  was  entering  in,  then  oc- 
curred the  inevitable — a  reaction.  Montanus,  a 
resident  of  Asia  Minor,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
second  century,  led  it  and  gave  the  movement  his 
name.  The  Montanists  were  an  extremely  ascetic 
and  puritanical  sect,  and  inclined  to  fanaticism. 
Their  distinguishing  doctrinal  attitude  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  one  word  szipematuralism. 
They  believed  the  Paraclete  inspired  them  with 
new  and  fuller  revelations  of  truth.  By  their  ex- 
pectation of  the  speedy  coming  of  Christ  they 
originated  a  commotion  which  disturbed  the  whole 
Church — in  Africa,  where  such  eminent  men  as 
8 


114  ^^^^  Church  of  the  Feathers. 

Tertullian  and  Cyprian  took  up  with  it,  and  at 
Rome,  where  it  found  numerous  adherents.  The 
earliest  synods  of  the  Church  were  called  in  order 
to  put  down  the  madness,  as  it  was  deemed. 

The  success  of  these  synods  increased  the  dig- 
nity and  power  of  the  bishops  and  strengthened 
ecclesiasticism.  Montanism  taught  the  doctrine 
of  a  universal  priesthood  of  believers;  the  Catho- 
lic Church  opposed  to  this  a  strict  theory  of  a  lim- 
ited priesthood,  and  so  strengthened  sacerdotal- 
ism. By  this  movement,  which  in  its  origin  had 
justification  and,  if  it  had  been  sanely  restrained 
and  guided,  might  have  done  much  good,  cer- 
tain permanent  effects  resulted:  first,  thereafter 
prophecy  and  special  revelations  were  distrust- 
ed; secondly,  greater  emphasis  was  laid  upon  the 
historical  Christ  and  a  closed  canon  of  Scripture: 
thirdly,  the  importance  of  a  compacter  Church  or- 
ganization was  emphasized. 

To  the  second  protest,  Monasticism,  an  entire 
chapter  will  later  on  be  devoted.  Montanism  was 
a  premonition;  the  spirit  and  potency  of  the  later 
institution,  the  protest  and  the  aspiration,  were  in 
it,  foreboding  final  victory. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

1.  Renan's  Hibbert  Lectures  (1880),  on  "The  Influence  of 
the  Institutions,  Thought,  and  Culture  of  Rome  on  Christian- 
ity and  the  Development  of  the  Catholic  Church,"  is  in  that 
writer's  well-known  able  manner.  The  style  is  that  of  a  poet, 
the  reasoning  is  that  of  a  philosopher. 

2.  Hatch's' Bampton  Lectures  (1880),  on  "The  Organization 
of  the  Early  Christian  Church,"  is  probably  the  best  single  vol- 
ume on  the  subject. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  EMPIRE, 


"No;  they  have  not  labored  in  vain,  those  great  founders, 
those  reformers,  those  prophets  of  every  age,  who  have  pro- 
tested against  the  delusive  evidence  of  a  fatality  which  closes 
us  round,  who  have  dashed  themselves  against  the  wall  of  a 
gross  materialism,  who  have  given  their  life  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  a  mission  which  the  spirit  of  their  age  laid  upon 
them.     .     .     . 

"Something  assures  me  that  he  who,  hardly  knowing  why, 
has,  out  of  simple  nobleness  of  nature,  chosen  for  himself  in 
this  world  the  essentially  unproductive  function  of  doing  good 
is  the  truly  wise  man,  and  has  discerned,  with  more  sagacity 
than  the  egotist,  the  legitimate  employment  of  life." — Rdnan. 
(n6) 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  EMPIRE. 

"Imperium  in  imperio." 

"The  gates  of  Hades  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

I.  Persecutions, 
Early  in  the  thought  of  the  Christians  the  em- 
peror of  Rome  came  to  be  identified  with  the 
fourth  beast  in  Daniel  —  the  ten-horned  beast, 
"whose  teeth  were  of  iron  and  his  nails  of  brass," 
and  who  should  *' wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High."  He  was  the  Antichrist,  the  embodiment 
and  representative  of  all  that  opposed  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  the  world — "the  man  of  sin,  .  .  . 
he  that  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  against  all 
that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshiped;  so  that 
he  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  setting  himself 
forth  as  God."  So  he  was  described  by  St.  Paul 
in  his  second  letter  to  the  Thessalonians.  And  a 
generation  or  more  later,  John  in  his  Apocalypse 
depicted  him  as  a  monster  coming  up  out  of  the 
bottomless  pit,  and  with  terrible  force  pronounced 
his  doom  from  heaven.  Good  reasons  existed  for 
this  burning  hatred  of  the  empire  during  the  first 
two  and  a  half  centuries  of  Christian  history. 
There  are  commonly  enumerated  ten  great  perse- 
cutions, as  follows;  ( I )Under Nero,  54-68;  (2)  Do- 
mitian,  81-96;   (3)  Trajan,  98-117;   (4)  Marcus 


Ii8  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Aurelius,  161-180;  (5)  Septimius  Severus,  193- 
211;  (6)  Maximinus,  235-238;  (7)  Decius,  249- 
253;  (8)  Valerian,  253-260;  (9)  Aurelian,  270- 
275;   (10)   Diocletian,  303-311. 

These  persecutions  were  not  all  equally  severe 
or  extended.  Those  of  Nero,  Domitian,  Decius, 
and  Diocletian  were  the  greatest.  The  history 
of  this  period  of  suffering  and  of  struggle  for  life 
and  mastery  will  now  engage  our  attention.  First, 
some  remarks  on  the  Roman  government's  gen- 
eral attitude  toward  alien  cults  must  be  premised. 
The  Roman  religion,  it  must  be  understood,  was 
a  national  affair.  In  its  final  and  consummate 
significance  it  meant  the  worship  of  Rome  and  of 
the  emperor.  To  tliese  incense  was  burned  and 
sacrifices  were  offered.  To  these  and  for  these 
prayers  were  made.  The  emperor  was  '^  domtmts 
et  deus  noster'"  to  all  loyal  Romans;  before  his 
death  he  was  apotheosized  and  called  **  divine." 

Now,  this  fact  of  the  national  and  political  na- 
ture of  the  Roman  religion  determined  the  attitude 
of  the  government  toward  foreign  faiths.  If  any 
society,  club,  or  collegium  of  any  sort  aroused 
suspicions  of  fostering  conspiracy  or  dangerous 
and  revolutionary  principles,  it  was  suppressed. 
The  restriction  went  eve^  further.  If  public  mor- 
als and  the  social  order  seemed  to  be  menaced, 
that  v/as  sufficient  ground  for  suppression.  That, 
therefore,  religious  tolerance  was  unlimited  in 
Rome  was  a  mistaken  idea.  In  those  days  of 
threatening  anarchy,  every  strange  cult  was  eyed 


The  Church  and  the  Emfire,  I19 

by  the  government  with  keen  suspicion.  For 
moral  reasons,  the  Bacchic  societies  were  sup- 
pressed B.C.  188.  The  Jews  were  expelled  from 
Rome  B.C.  139,  because  of  their  exclusive,  stern, 
and  aggressive  monotheistic  worship.  The  cult 
of  the  Egyptian  Isis  was  put  down  B.C.  58  and 
50,  for  reasons  of  public  order  and  safety.  There 
were  many  stringent  laws  against  the  innumer- 
able collegia,  or  fraternities,  of  the  time,  designed 
to  prevent  their  assuming  poHtical  aspects. 

Therefore  when  the  Christians  appeared  in 
Rome,  restricting  laws  were  already  in  existence, 
and  needed  only  to  be  enforced  if  any  danger 
seemed  to  lurk  in  their  practices  or  doctrines. 
And  such  danger  was  not  long  in  evincing  itself. 
The  Christians  seemed  to  be  nihilistic,  inasmuch 
as  they  received  slave  converts,  practiced  com- 
m.unism,  refused  to  take  the  military  oath,  stood 
aloof  from  trade,  business,  and  public  office,  and, 
most  heinous  and  crowning  offense,  declined  to 
burn  incense  to  the  emperor's  statue.  In  one 
word,  they  were  "atheists."  The  hating  Jews 
fed  Roman  suspicion.  They  charged  the  Chris- 
tians with  the  foulest  and  most  execrable  crimes. 
Two  of  these  are  much  spoken  of  in  the  literature 
of  the  time,  and  a  most  pathetic  interest  attaches  to 
them.  In  the  euphemistic  language  of  the  period, 
these  crimes  were  called  "  Thyestean  feasts"  and 
"  CEdipodean  marriages."  To  understand  what 
was  meant,  it  is  enough  to  be  reminded  that  to  Thy- 
estes  his  own  son  was  served  up  in  a  feast  prepared 


120  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

for  him  by  his  brother  Atreus;  and  that  CEdipus, 
in  the  myth,  unknowingly  wedded  his  own  mother. 
To  understand  what  gave  suggestions  for  such  hid- 
eous charges,  it  is  only  necessary,  for  the  first,  to 
reflect  on  the  language  used  in  the  Lord's  Supper 
concerning  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  Son  of  God ; 
and  for  the  second,  to  remember  that  those  who 
dafly  called  themselves  ''brothers"  and  "sisters" 
in  Christ  joined  in  wedlock.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem  to  us,  the  apologists  had  to  defend  the  inno- 
cent Christians  against  the  charge  of  these  unnat- 
ural crimes. 

In  the  remarkable  romance  of  Sienkiewicz,  "Quo 
Vadis,"  the  first  great  persecution  of  the  Chris- 
tians by  the  inhuman  Nero  is  graphically  and  al- 
most too  terribly  detailed,  but  probably  within  the 
bounds  of  truth.  They  were  known  to  the  gov- 
ernment up  to  this  time  only  as  a  small,  fanatical, 
and  most  peculiar  sect,  of  anti-social  tendencies  and 
atheistic  doctrines.  The  consequential  fact  was 
that  the  vidgus^  who  loved  the  bloody  spectacle  of 
the  arena,  hated  the  Christians.  Nero,  the  incar- 
nation of  the  brutalized  mind  of  the  age,  burned 
the  city  for  a  spectacle,  and  then  permitted  the 
charge  to  fall  upon  the  Christians  because  it  saved 
himself  and  gratified  the  Jews  and  the  Roman  rab- 
ble. They  were  convicted,  not  on  proofs,  but  on 
the  general  charge  of  odium  generis  huniani:  "  ha- 
tred of  the  human  race  !  " 

Thenceforth  these  "  haters  of  the  human  race" 
were  outlaws  and  brigands,  subject  to  continual  po- 


The  Church  and  the  Emfire.  121 

lice  surveillance  and  under  condemnation  for  the 
Name.  From  the  year  64,  then,  it  may  be  said  that 
persecution,  like  a  forest  fire,  burned  for  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  against  the  Christians;  now 
with  raging  and  almost  all-consuming  conflagration, 
now  with  smoldering  duUheat  that  was  concealed 
only  to  gather  new  destructive  force ;  now  in  one 
part  of  the  empire,  now  in  another;  always  some- 
where the  dun  smoke  or  the  lurid  flames  rose  to 
heaven,  until  the  *'time  and  times  and  a  half  time" 
of  Daniel  were  fulfilled. 

Paul  and  Peter,  it  is  supposed,  suffered  martyr- 
dom in  the  first  Neronian  persecution.  The  sec- 
ond persecution  was  begun  about  A.D.  95,  and  it 
is  of  this  that  the  Apocalypse  probably  speaks.  It 
was  instigated  for  political  reasons.  Less  blood- 
thirsty than  Nero,  Domitian  chose  to  banish  rather 
than  kill.  John's  banishment  to  Patmos  probably 
occurred  at  this  time. 

The  condition  in  the  reign  of  Trajan  is  disclosed 
by  the  correspondence  which  took  place  between 
this  emperor  and  Pliny  the  Younger,  who  was  gov- 
ernor of  Bithynia.  These  famous  letters,  which 
passed  about  A.D.  iii,  are  as  follows.  Pliny 
writes : 

''It  is  my  custom,  my  lord,  to  refer  to  thee  all 
questions  concerning  which  I  am  in  doubt;  for  who 
can  better  direct  my  hesitation  or  instruct  my  ig- 
norance? I  have  never  been  present  at  judicial 
examinations  of  the  Christians;  therefore  I  am 
ignorant  how  and  to  what  extent  it  is  customary 


12^  The  Chiirch  of  tJic  leathers. 

to  punish  or  to  search  for  them.  And  I  have  hesi- 
tated greatly  as  to  whether  any  distinction  should 
be  made  on  the  ground  of  age,  or  whether  the 
weak  should  be  treated  in  the  same  way  as  the 
strong;  whether  pardon  should  be  granted  to  the 
penitent,  or  he  who  has  ever  been  a  Christian  gain 
nothing  by  renouncing  it ;  whether  the  mere  name, 
if  unaccompanied  with  crimes,  or  crimes  associated 
with  the  name,  should  be  punished.  Meanwhile, 
with  those  who  have  been  brought  before  me  as 
Christians  I  have  pursued  the  following  course.  I 
have  asked  them  if  they  were  Christians,  and  if 
they  have  confessed,  I  have  asked  them  a  second 
and  third  time,  threatening  them  with  punishment ; 
if  they  have  persisted,  I  have  commanded  them  to 
be  led  away  to  punishment.  For  I  did  not  doubt 
that  whatever  that  might  be  which  they  confessed, 
at  any  rate  pertinacious  and  inflexible  obstinacy 
ought  to  be  punished.  There  have  been  others 
afflicted  with  like  insanity,  who  as  Roman  citizens 
I  have  decided  should  be  sent  to  Rome.  In  the 
course  of  the  proceedings,  as  commonly  hap- 
pens, the  crime  was  extended,  and  many  varieties 
of  cases  appeared.  An  anonymous  document  was 
published  containing  the  names  of  many  persons. 
Those  who  denied  that  they  were  or  had  been  Chris- 
tians I  thought  ought  to  be  released,  when  they  had 
followed  my  example  in  invoking  the  gods  and  offer- 
ing incense  and  wine  to  thine  image — which  I  had 
for  that  purpose  ordered  brought  with  the  images 
of  the  gods — and  when  they  had  besides  cursed 


The  Church  and  the  Empire.  123 

Christ;  things  which  they  say  that  those  who  are 
truly  Christians  cannot  be  compelled  to  do.  Others, 
accused  by  an  informer,  first  said  that  they  were 
Christians  and  afterwards  denied  it,  saying  that 
they  had  indeed  been  Christians,  but  had  ceased  to 
be — some  three  years,  some  several  years,  and  one 
even  twenty  years  before.  All  adored  thine  im- 
age and  the  statues  of  the  gods,  and  cursed  Christ. 
Moreover,  they  affirmed  that  this  was  the  sum  of 
their  guilt  and  error;  that  they  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  come  together  on  a  fixed  day  before  da}^- 
light,  and  to  sing  responsively  a  song  unto  Christ 
as  God;  and  to  bind  themselves  with  an  oath,  not 
with  a  view  to  the  commission  of  some  crime,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  that  they  would  not  commit  theft, 
nor  robbery,  nor  adultery;  that  they  would  not 
break  faith,  nor  refuse  to  restore  a  deposit  when 
asked  for  it.  When  they  had  done  these  things, 
their  custom  was  to  separate  and  to  assemble 
again  to  partake  of  a  meal,  common,  yet  harmless 
(which  is  not  of  the  characteristic  of  a  nefarious 
superstition)  ;  but  this  they  had  ceased  to  do  after 
my  edict,  in  which,  according  to  thy  demands,  I 
had  prohibited  fraternities.  I  therefore  consid- 
ered it  the  more  necessary  to  examine,  even  with 
the  use  of  torture,  two  female  slaves  who  were 
called  deaconesses  {ministrcE)^  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain the  truth.  But  I  found  nothing  except  a  su- 
perstition depraved  and  immoderate ;  and  there- 
fore, postponing  further  inquiry,  I  have  turned  to 
thee  for  advice.     For  the  matter  seems  to  me  worth 


124  ^'^^^  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

consulting  about,  especially  on  account  of  the  num- 
ber of  persons  involved.  For  many  of  every  age 
and  of  every  rank  and  of  both  sexes  have  been 
already  and  will  be  brought  to  trial.  For  the 
contagion  of  this  superstition  has  permeated  not 
only  the  cities,  but  also  the  villages  and  even 
the  country  districts.  Yet  it  can  apparently  be 
arrested  and  corrected.  At  any  rate,  it  is  cer- 
tainly a  fact  that  the  temples,  which  were  almost 
deserted,  are  now  beginning  to  be  frequented, 
and  the  sacred  rites,  which  were  for  a  long- 
time interrupted,  to  be  resumed,  and  fodder  for 
the  victims  to  be  sold,  for  which  previously  hard- 
ly a  purchaser  was  to  be  found.  From  which  it 
is  easy  to  gather  how  great  a  multitude  of  men 
may  be  reformed  if  there  is  given  a  chance  for 
repentance." 

The  reply  of  Trajan — commonly  called  "Tra- 
jan's Rescript  " — reads  as  follows: 

'*  Thou  hast  followed  the  right  course,  my  Secun- 
dus,  in  treating  the  cases  of  those  who  have  been 
brought  before  thee  as  Christians.  For  no  fixed 
rule  can  be  laid  down  which  shall  be  applicable  to 
all  cases.  They  are  not  to  be  searched  for;  if  they 
are  accused  and  convicted, they  are  to  be  punished ; 
nevertheless,  with  the  proviso  that  he  who  denies 
that  he  is  a  Christian,  and  proves  it  by  his  act — 
/'.  ^.,  by  making  supplication  to  our  gods — al- 
though suspected  in  regard  to  the  past,  may  by  re- 
pentance obtain  pardon.  Anonymous  accusations 
ought  not  to  be  admitted  in  any  proceedings;  for 


The  Church  and  the  Emfire.  125 

they  are  of  most  evil  precedent,  and  are  not  in  ac- 
cord with  our  age." 

The  emperor's  rescript,  it  must  be  conceded, 
is  characterized,  for  those  times,  by  leniency  and 
wisdom.  Pliny's  letter  is  a  most  valuable  histor- 
ical document,  as  revealing  the  customs  of  the 
Christian  worshipers  in  that  period.  Under  An- 
toninus Pius  ( 1 38-161),  to  whom  apologies  were 
addressed,  as  we  have  seen,  Polycarp  suffered 
martyrdom  at  Smyrna.  Under  Marcus  Aurelius, 
his  adopted  son  and  successor,  persecution  was 
severe  in  Gaul  at  Lyons  and  Vienne.  Of  this 
great  trial  the  Gallic  churches  sent  out  an  account 
to  the  churches  in  Asia,  relating  how  great  and  ter- 
rible was  their  tribulation,  and  how  nobly  the  many 
sufferers  bore  witness  to  Christ.  Two  illustrious 
examples  must  be  presented  as  this  letter,  which 
Eusebius  gives  us,  describes  them.  The  first  is  of 
the  heroism  of  a  young  woman,  "  through  whom 
Christ  showed  that  things  which  appear  mean  and 
obscure  and  despicable  to  men  are  with  God  of 
great  glory.  .  .  .  For,"  the  narrative  continues, 
"while  we  all  trembled,  and  her  earthly  mistress, 
who  was  herself  also  one  of  the  witnesses,  feared 
that  on  account  of  the  weakness  of  her  body  she 
would  be  unable  to  make  bold  confession,  Blan- 
dina  [this  was  the  heroine's  name]  was  filled  with 
such  power  as  to  be  delivered  and  raised  above 
those  who  were  torturing  her  by  turns  from  morn- 
ing till  evening  in  every  manner,  so  that  they  ac- 
knovv^ledged  that  they  were  conquered,  and  could 


126  The  Chu7'ch  of  the  JFathers. 

do  nothing  more  to  her.  And  they  were  astonished 
at  her  endurance,  as  her  entire  body  was  mangled 
and  broken ;  and  they  testified  that  one  of  these 
forms  of  torture  was  sufficient  to  destro}?-  life,  not 
to  speak  of  so  many  and  great  sufferings.  But  the 
blessed  woman,  like  a  noble  athlete,  renewed  her 
strength  in  her  confession;  and  her  comfort  and 
her  recreation  and  relief  from  the  pain  of  her  suf- 
ferings were  in  exclaiming,  '  I  am  a  Christian,  and 
there  is  nothing  vile  done  by  us.'  " 

The  second  example  of  heroism  is  of  the  aged 
bishop  of  Lyons,  *'  the  blessed  Pothinus."  **  He 
was  more  than  ninety  years  of  age,"  runs  the  ac- 
count, *'and  very  infirm,  scarcely  indeed  able  to 
breathe  because  of  physical  weakness;  but  he  was 
strengthened  by  spiritual  zeal  through  his  earnest 
desire  for  martyrdom.  Though  his  body  was  worn 
out  by  old  age  and  disease,  his  life  was  preserved 
that  Christ  might  triumph  in  it.  When  he  was 
brought  by  the  soldiers  to  the  tribunal,  accom- 
panied by  the  civil  magistrates  and  a  multitude 
who  shouted  against  him  in  every  manner  as  if  he 
were  Christ  himself,  he  bore  noble  witness.  Be- 
ing asked  by  the  governor,  *  Who  is  the  God  of 
the  Christians?'  he  replied,  *  If  thou  art  worthy, 
thou  shalt  know.'  Then  he  was  dragged  away 
harshly,  and  received  blows  of  every  kind.  Those 
near  him  struck  him  with  their  hands  and  feet,  re- 
gardless of  his  age  ;  and  those  at  a  distance  hurled 
at  him  whatever  they  could  seize ;  all  of  them  think- 
ing that  they  would  be  guilty  of  great  wickedness 


The  Church  and  the  Emj>ire.  127 

anc}  impiety  if  any  possible  abuse  were  omitted. 
For  thus  they  thought  to  avenge  their  own  deities. 
Scarcely  able  to  breathe,  he  was  cast  into  prison, 
and  died  after  two  days." 

Antoninus  Pius  and  Marcus  Aurelius  were  Stoic 
philosophers,  moralists  of  the  noblest  ancient  type, 
men  of  high  and  commanding  ideals,  and  rulers 
of  eminent  justness  and  wisdom.  Verily,  they 
must  have  thought  they  were  doing  God  service 
in  permitting  their  governors — for  by  their  subal- 
terns it  was  done — thus  to  persecute  their  truest 
subjects.  On  no  other  ground  can  it  be  accounted 
for. 

Under  Septimius  Severus  the  persecution  was 
especially  severe  in  Egypt  and  Africa.  It  was 
then  Pantasnus  was  driven  out  of  Alexandria,  and 
Leonidas,  the  father  of  Origen,  was  first  impris- 
oned, then  killed.  Conversion  to  Judaism  and  to 
Christianity  was  forbidden.  The  Church  was  per- 
mitted legal  existence  only  as  a  burial  society. 

Alexander  Severus  was  tolerant.  His  house- 
hold contained  several  Christians.  In  his  palace 
he  had  busts  of  Abraham  and  of  Christ  alono-side 
of  Hercules  and  Orpheus.  Julia  Mamma?a,  his 
mother,  was  attracted  by  the  renown  of  Origen, 
and  had  him  visit  her  at  Antioch .  She  may  secret- 
ly have  been  a  Christian. 

The  most  general  persecution,  up  to  that  time, 
was  under  Decius.  The  Church,  although  its  re- 
ligion was  illicit^  had  for  some  years  enjoyed 
peace,   had  grown  with  wonderful  rapidity,  and 


1 28  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

had  become  a  consolidated  and  powerful  organi- 
zation, **  an  empire  within  the  empire,"  a  new 
regime  threatening  with  destruction  the  ancient 
government.  The  weakness  of  the  aged  empire 
was  growing  more  and  more  manifest.  From  the 
outside,  moreover,  it  was  menaced  by  hordes  of 
northern  barbarians.  The  forces  of  the  empire 
must  be  united.  To  effect  this,  Christianit}^,  the 
one  opposing  power  within,  must  be  uprooted. 
Decius  set  himself  thoroughly  to  the  task.  Com- 
mittees of  examination  were  appointed,  and  in- 
formers became  diligent.  Bishops  were  the  first 
to  suffer.  The  church  at  Rome  was  for  sixteen 
months  without  a  bishop.  Many  Christians  of 
every  grade  suffered  martyrdom — many  fell  away. 
They  were  required  to  renounce  Christ,  and  burn 
incense  to  the  emperor.  Having  done  this,  they 
were  given  a  certificate  of  the  fact.  Those  who 
fell  away  through  fear  and  weakness  were  called 
the  lafsi  or  "lapsed  "  ;  and  those  who  bought  a 
certificate  (libellus)^  as  many  did,  instead  of  burn- 
ing incense,  were  called  the  libellatici.  They 
were  classed  as  *'  lapsed  "  just  as  though  they  had 
performed  the  heathen  act.  Likewise  there  were 
two  classes  of  the  faithful  as  of  the  unfaithful. 
They  were  confessors  and  martyrs.  The  con- 
fessors were  those  who  bore  witness  by  sufferings 
— by  any  trial  short  of  death — to  the  steadfastness 
of  their  faith;  the  martyrs  were  witnesses — for 
such  is  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  word — by  their 
death.     The  three  most  conspicuous  figures  in  the 


Tlic  Church  and  the  JEinpire.  129 

Church  at  this  time  were  Novatian  at  Rome,  Cyp- 
rian at  Carthage,  and  Origen  at  Cassarea. 

One  of  the  most  serious  troubles  that  ever  dis- 
tressed the  early  Church  concerned  the  readmis- 
sion  of  the  ^*  lapsed."  Two  parties,  one  advocat- 
ing a  strict,  the  other  a  mild,  course,  arose.  Op- 
posing bishops  were  chosen  at  Rome,  and  the 
Church  was  rent  by  a  division  that  seemed  ir- 
reconcilable. The  milder  policy  prevailed  in 
time,  and  the  stricter  sect,  who  were  called  No- 
vatians  from  their  leader — a  sort  of  puritan  com- 
pany in  the  ancient  Church — ceased  to  be  of  con- 
sequence. The  practice  of  penance,  however, 
received  from  the  terms  of  readmission  a  note- 
worthy impulse.  A  four-years'  course  of  disci- 
pline, divided  into  as  many  stages,  was  imposed 
upon  the  unfaithful  who  sought  restoration.  The 
first  year  they  were  entreaters,  and  were  admitted 
no  further  than  to  the  outer  court  of  the  church, 
where  they  besought  the  prayers  of  those  who  en- 
tered in.  The  second  year  they  were  auditors^  or 
hearers  only  of  the  preaching  and  the  reading,  after 
which  they  were  required  to  leave.  The  third 
year  they  were  permitted  to  remain  during  the 
prayer  following  the  sermon  ;  and  the  fourth  year 
they  might  remain  standing  at  the  administration 
of  the  eucharist.  The  penitential  system  of  the 
Church  had  its  beginning  thus  early,  and  from  these 
conditions. 

Valerian  vv^as  at  first  tolerant,  but  became  hos- 
tile. The  weakening  of  the  empire  was  the  cause 
9 


130  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

of  his  change  of  attitude;  he  desired  to  unite  all 
forces  against  foreign  enemies.  By  statutory  law 
Christianity  became  a  crime.  Cyprian  and  Origen 
experienced  martyrdom. 

A  period  of  peace  nearly  fifty  years  in  duration 
ensued,  and  the  Church  flourished  as  never  before. 
Eusebius  confesses  it  to  be  beyond  his  ability  to 
describe  with  what  glory  and  freedom  the  word 
of  God  was  honored  among  all  men,  both  Greeks 
and  barbarians.  But  as  a  divine  judgment,  in  his 
estimation,  when  the  Christians  "fell  into  laxity 
and  sloth,  and  envied  and  reviled  each  other,  .  .  . 
rulers  assailing  rulers  with  words  as  spears,  and 
people  forming  parties  against  people,"  then  per- 
secution, more  dire  and  determined  than  ever  be- 
fore, put  forth  its  last,  its  mightiest  effort.  For 
eighteen  3^ears  Diocletian  had  let  the  Church  pur- 
sue its  course  in  peace — what  peace  its  own  inter- 
nal dissensions  permitted  to  it.  In  the  year  303 
he  raised  the  most  terrible  persecution  in  all  parts 
of  the  empire.  Eusebius  describes  it  all — for  it 
occurred  in  his  own  time — province  by  province. 
Thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children  in  every 
land  endured  torments  beyond  belief,  and  won 
victory  at  last  in  flames  or  upon  the  cross,  "despis- 
ing the  present  life  for  the  sake  of  the  teachings 
of  our  Saviour." 

2.  The  Catacombs. 

At  Rome  a  peculiar  and  interesting  record  of 
these  trying  years  and  centuries  yet  remains  writ- 
ten in  the  everlasting  hills. 


The  Church  and  the  Empire.  131 

Accustomed  to  meet  at  the  graves  of  their  mar- 
tyrs to  commemorate  their  victorious  death,  or, 
as  they  viewed  it,  their  entrance  upon  life,  the 
Christian  worshipers  in  the  time  of  these  persecu- 
tions found  no  refuge  at  once  so  secure  and  so 
congenial  to  them  as  the  catacombs.  And  these 
during  a  period  of  nearly  three  centuries  became 
to  them,  therefore,  not  only  their  city  of  the 
dead,  but  as  much  their  city  of  the  living.  They 
dwelt  and  worshiped,  they  prayed  and  sang  and 
kept  their  festivals,  and  at  last  were  laid  to  rest,  in 
this  place  of  tombs;  so  that  the  catacombs  have 
been  expressively  called  **the  Pompeii  of  early 
Christianity."  What  are  the  catacombs  like,  and 
what  is  their  history? — a  question  to  whose  an- 
swer pages  should  be  given  where  I  can  give  but 
sentences. 

In  the  porous  strata  of  volcanic  rock,  rising  into 
low  hills  outside  the  walls  of  Rome  along  the  Ap- 
pian  Way,  was  discovered,  scarcely  a  century  and  a 
half  ago,  a  network  of  subterranean  galleries,  es- 
timated to  have  a  combined  length  of  three  hun- 
dred or  four  hundred  miles.  Along  these  galler- 
ies there  have  been  found  over  seventy  thousand 
tombs,  while  the  whole  number  is  estimated  as 
high  as  three  millions.  Blocked  up  in  time  by 
Roman  soldiers,  and  covered  by  the  drifting 
sands  of  the  Campagna  for  fourteen  centuries,  the 
very  existence  of  this  Pompeii  was  unknown. 
Now  it  is  made  to  illuminate  the  darkest  chapters 
cf  Christian   history.     As   every  visitor  to  Rome 


132  The  Church  of  ihe  Pathers, 

goes  to  the  catacombs,  let  us  with  an  interpreter 
enter  one  of  the  underground  galleries  and  see 
some  of  the  earliest  tombs  of  the  Christian  believ- 
ers. We  shall  find  chapels  and  love-feast  rooms 
and  chambers  where  bishops  of  the  hunted  flock 
passed  their  lives ;  we  shall  also  find  vaults  where 
Jews  and  pagans  were  laid  to  rest,  and  such  an 
inscription  as  this  will  plainly  declare  the  fact: 
^' Once  I  was  not;  now  I  am  not;  Iknownothing 
about  it,  and  it  is  no  concern  of  mine."  This  is 
the  agnosticism  and  apathy  and  utter  despair 
which  possessed  that  part  of  the  pagan  world 
that  rejected  the  higher  truth  which  had  ap- 
peared. On  the  Christian  tombs  we  shall  find  in- 
scriptions quite  different  in  tone.  A  few  exam- 
ples will  suffice  to  show  their  general  character. 
Of  most  frequent  occurrence  are  such  as  these: 
*'  He  rests  in  peace  "  ;  **  He  has  gone  to  God  "  ; 
*■''  Reposing  in  the  peace  of  God  "  ;  "  Gone  before 
us  in  peace."  Simplicity  of  faith  could  hardly 
surpass  its  manifestation  here.  No  addition  could 
strengthen  or  adorn  the  assurance  these  brief  epi- 
taphs express. 

A  like  faith  and  equal  simplicity  characterize 
the  pictures  which  are  rudely  drawn  upon  the 
walls.  The  scenes,  as  might  be  expected,  are 
usually  taken  from  the  Bible,  but  not  exclusively 
so;  for  along  with  scenes  representing  Adam  and 
Kve,  Noah  and  the  ark,  Abraham  and  Isaac,  Jo- 
.lah  and  the  whale,  etc.,  are  also  characters  and 
scenes  from  pagan  mythology,  such  as  Orpheus 


T^he  Church  and  the  ^mfire.  133 

playing  on  his  lyre,  with  the  savage  beasts  around 
tamed  by  his  strains  to  docility — a  symbolical  rep- 
resentation of  Christ  and  the  power  of  his  harmo- 
nious word ;  also  of  Psyche  and  Bacchus  and  Her- 
cules, each  symbolizing  some  characteristic  of  the 
gospel  or  of  Christ.  But  most  frequent  in  occur- 
rence and  of  greatest  significance  is  the  figure  of 
the  Good  Shepherd.  Theirs  was  "the  religion," 
says  Dean  Stanley,  "  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  The 
kindness,  the  courage,  the  grace,  the  love,  the 
beauty  of  the  Good  Shepherd  were  to  them,  if  we 
may  say  so,  prayer  book,  articles,  creed,  and  can- 
ons, all  in  one.  They  looked  on  that  figure,  and 
it  conveyed  to  them  all  they  wanted." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  from  the  simplicity 
and  sweetness  of  this  all-sufl!icient  faith  to  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  or  even  to  the  Athanasian 
creed,  there  is  a  long  call.  This  Good  Shepherd 
is  commonly  represented  as  bearing  a  lamb  upon 
his  shoulders,  symbolical  of  his  bringing  the  one 
lost  to  earth  into  his  heavenly  fold.  In  some  in- 
stances, however,  instead  of  a  lamb,  or  sheep, 
upon  his  shoulders,  it  is  a  kid  or  a  goat  he  bears — 
a  fact  which  Matthew  Arnold  shows  us  the  sig- 
nificance of  in  a  forcible  sonnet: 

He  saves  the  sheep,  the  goats  he  doth  not  save. 

So  spoke  the  fierce  Tertullian.     But  she  sigh'd — 
The  infant  Church!  of  love  she  felt  the  tide 
Stream  on  her  from  her  Lord's  yet  recent  grave, 
And  then  she  smiled;  and  in  the  catacombs, 
With  eye  suffused  but  heart  inspired,  true, 


t34  The  Church  of  the  Pathers, 

She  her  Good  Shepherd's  hasty  image  drew, 
And  on  his  shoulders,  not  a  lamb,  a  kid. 

Another  symbol  of  common  occurrence  is  that 
with  which  the  Christian  Ligeia  in  **Quo  Vadis" 
puzzled  her  pagan  lover,  namely,  the  fish — the  let- 
ters of  which,  in  Greek,  are  the  initials  of  "Jesus 
Christ,  Son  of  God,  Saviour."  (Ichthus.)  This, 
too,  is  a  complete  confession  of  faith  for  the  early 
Church. 

Of  more  frequent  occurrence,  however,  and  of 
even  greater  expressiveness,  is  the  vine  which,  with 
rich  clusters  of  its  fruit,  sometimes  spreads  over  the 
entire  ^omb.  What  symbol  could  be  more  power- 
fully and  broadly  suggestive?  Based  probably 
upon  the  parable  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  it  is  not 
only  an  expression  of  faith  in  the  Vine,  of  which 
all  believers  are  branches,  but  of  the  luxuriance, 
joyousness,  and  fruitfulness  of  the  Christian  life, 
and  also  of  its  unity,  consistent  with  endless  va- 
riety. 

To  the  catacombs  we  may  go  to  learn  what  was 
the  essential  faith  and  what  were  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  life  of  the  early  Church.  And  much 
more  than  this:  we  discover  here  the  beginnings 
of  Christian  art,  and  gather  much  therefrom  re- 
garding the  attitude  and  habit  of  mind  of  those 
whose  religion  was  that  of  the  Good  Shepherd, 
and  whose  symbol  of  life  was  the  wide-spreading 
and  fruit-laden  vine.  In  these  gloomy  vaults  all 
that  is  written  or  pictured  is  cheerful  and  joyous. 


The  Church  and  the  E^n^ife.  135 

Not  skeletons  and  death-heads,  not  torments  and 
cypresses,  but  wreaths  of  roses,  pastoral  scenes, 
children  playing,  and  good  angels;  no  cross  or 
crucifix,  but  the  Good  Shepherd  with  a  staff  in 
one  hand  while  the  other  holds  secure  the  sheep 
he  is  taking  to  the  fold.  Sometimes  with  the  harp 
in  his  hand,  sometimes  surrounded  by  the  three 
Graces,  he  is  always  beautiful  as  "the  youthful 
Apollo  playing  on  his  pipes  to  the  flocks  of  Ad- 
metus." 

Much  that  is  here,  it  is  true,  is  pagan  under  a 
Christian  disguise ;  but  classic  paganism  was  uni- 
formly cheerful,  and  its  myths  are  rich  in  the  sug- 
gestion of  universal  truths  and  always  beautiful. 
Mercury  and  the  ram  in  Greek  worship  may  have 
suggested  the  use  of  the  Good  Shepherd  and  his 
sheep  as  a  Christian  symbol;  Dionysus  and  the 
vine,  so  joyously  celebrated  in  the  natural  religion 
of  the  pagans,  perhaps  suggested  the  use  of  the 
same  as  a  Christian  symbol. 

All  this  reveals,  furthermore,  how  the  heathen 
worshipers  were  made  to  accept  and  feel  at  home  in 
the  new  religion.  Of  the  catacombs  and  their  sig- 
nificance in  general  let  Dr.  Martineau  speak  in  his 
beautiful  way:  "  There  the  evergreen  leaf  protests 
in  sculptured  silence  that  the  winter  of  the  grave 
cannot  touch  the  saintly  soul;  the  blossoming 
branch  speaks  of  vernal  suns  beyond  the  snows  of 
this  chill  world ;  the  Good  Shepherd  shows  from 
his  benign  looks  that  the  mortal  v^^ay,  so  terrible 
to  nature,  had  become  to  those  Christians  as  the 


136  The  Clmrch  of  the  Feathers. 

meadow-path   between  the  grassy  slopes   and  be- 
side the  still  w^aters." 

3.   Imperial  Power. 

During  all  these  years  the  growth  of  Christian- 
ity was  no  less  than  marvelous.  It  is  impossible 
now  to  estimate  either  tlie  number  of  churches  or 
the  number  of  members.  But  as  we  know  that  her 
martyrs  are  counted  by  thousands,  the  Church's 
members  must  have  been  counted  by  hundreds 
of  thousands.  This  rapidity  of  growth  is  account- 
ed for  by  man}^  causes  and  conditions.  The  age 
in  which  Christianity  appeared  w^as  prepared  for 
it  and  needed  it,  notwithstanding  that  the  fight 
made  against  its  progress  seems  to  oppose  this  fact. 
'*  Through  ignorance  "  tliey  did  it,  as  the  Jews  be- 
fore slew  the  Prince  of  Life. 

There  was  evidenced  by  many  facts  a  general 
revival  of  religious  feeling  among  pagans.  The 
syncretism  of  cults  w'as  tending  toward  monothe- 
ism. Worship  was  being  spiritualized,  and  moral 
elevation  was  coming  to  be  its  end.  Union  with 
God,  an  inner  and  vital  relation  of  harmonious  in- 
tercourse, w^as  becoming  more  and  more  the  aspi- 
ration of  the  soul.  A  revelation  of  his  will  was 
therefore  sought  after;  a  present  deity,  above  all, 
was  demanded — a  deity  who  should  heal  the  afflic- 
tions of  humanity  and  redeem  men  from  their  sin. 
The  worship  of  Mithras  and  the  cult  of  ^scula- 
pius,  who  was  a  healing  deity,  express  the  mani- 
fest longings  of  the  age.     The  ethical  character, 


The  Church  and  the  Empire.  137 

which  was  rising  to  chief  importance  in  rehgion, 
was  exemplitied  most  completely  in  the  Eleusinian 
mysteries  of  Greece.  The  ceremonial  of  these 
began  with  the  proclamation:  "Let  no  one  enter 
here  whose  hands  are  not  clean  and  whose  tongue 
is  not  prudent."  Then  confession  and  repentance 
of  sin  were  required.  Baptism  followed — a  bap- 
tism that  was  regarded  as  a  cleansing  and  a  regen- 
eration. Then  a  sacrifice  for  salvation  was  of- 
fered, and  a  common  meal  was  eaten.  Of  the  re- 
ligious societies  of  the  time  Dr.  Hatch  writes: 
**The  majority  of  them  had  the  same  aims  as 
Christianity  itself — the  aim  of  worshiping  a  true 
God,  the  aim  of  living  a  pure  life,  and  the  aim  of 
cultivating  the  spirit  of  brotherhood.  They  were 
part  of  a  great  religious  revival  which  distinguished 
the  age."  So  much  alike,  indeed,  were  not  only 
their  ritual  practices,  but  also  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  and  of  the  Greek  worship  of  Deme- 
ter  and  Dionysus,  that  the  adherents  of  each  free- 
ly accused  the  other  side  of  having  borrowed  or 
stolen. 

Judaism  also  had  prepared  the  soil  in  every  coun- 
try for  the  Christian  missionary.  The  proselytes 
won  from  the  Gentile  races  w^ere  especially  easy 
converts  to  the  more  perfect  Judaism — Christianity. 

These  were  favoring  conditions.  The  causes  are 
those  factors  of  ethical  doctrine  and  practice,  of 
assured  truth,  and  of  spiritual  nourishment,  which 
Christianity  was  able  to  supply  to  an  age  in  need  of 
such.     Some  five  or  six  causes  may  be  particular- 


138  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

ized:  First,  the  fervent  zeal  of  Christians,  leading 
to  extreme  self-denial,  the  most  arduous  labors, 
and  to  martyrdom;  second,  the  doctrine  of  im- 
mortality, and  the  firm  assertion  that  "  life  and  im- 
mortality" had  been  brought  to  light  in  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ;  third,  the  attestation  of  changed 
lives,  and  of  miraculous  occurrences  throucfh  Chris- 
tian  agency;  fourth,  the  ethical  teachings  and  the 
pure  morality  of  the  lives  of  Christians;  fifth,  the 
unity  of  spirit  which  they  preserved  in  the  bond  of 
peace;  sixth,  the  chief  fact  of  all  v^^as  that  Chris- 
tians were  able  to  lead  men  to  a  personal  Saviour, 
the  embodiment  of  all  they  taught,  the  pledge  of 
all  they  hoped. 

The  rise  of  the  Church  to  supremacy  over  pa- 
ganism in  the  empire  was  not  a  sudden  leap,  but 
the  slow  work  of  three  centuries  of  bitter  and  ter- 
rible struggle.  At  last,  when  the  cross  proved  it- 
self invincible,  it  was  chosen  by  the  conquered  en- 
emy as  his  battle  standard,  and  the  wearer  of  the 
imperial  purple  acknowledged  the  Galilean  Peasant 
to  be  his  King. 

The  disrupted  state  of  the  empire  and  the  inev- 
itable conflict  on  occasion  of  the  death  of  the  reign- 
ing emperor  favored  the  Christians  as  a  num^erous 
and,  because  thoroughly  united,  a  powerful  party; 
so  that  concessions  were  likely  to  be  made  in  con- 
sideration of  the  vast  weight  of  their  influence. 
Constantius  died  in  the  year  306,  at  York  in  Brit- 
ain, and  left  the  throne  to  be  fought  for  by  several 
contestants.     Among  these  Constantine,  his  eldest 


The  Chttrch  and  ike  Empire.  139 

son,  was  the  choice  of  the  army,  with  which,  after 
a  few  years,  he  marched  upon  Rome  to  meet  Max- 
entius,  who  was  in  the  field  with  another  army,  to 
make  good  his  claim  to  authority.  Just  before 
their  meeting,  while  Constantine  was  praying  for 
victory,  as  Eusebius  relates,  there  appeared  to  him 
at  midday  a  vision  of  the  cross  in  the  sky,  bearing 
the  inscription.  Conquer  by  This.  Then,  when 
he  had  gone  to  rest  at  night,  his  thoughts  full  of  the 
strange  portent,  Christ  appeared  to  him  in  his  sleep 
with  the  same  sign,  and  commanded  him  to  make 
a  standard  in  its  likeness  and  use  it  as  a  safeguard 
in  all  engagements  with  his  enemies.  In  the  morn- 
ing he  called  together  his  craftsmen  and  had  such 
a  standard  fashioned  and  adorned  with  precious 
stones  and  overlaid  with  gold. 

The  meeting  of  the  armies  occurred  October 
27th,  312,  at  Milvian  Bridge,  on  the  Tiber.  In 
Christian  history  it  is  a  famous  battle,  for  Constan- 
tine was  victorious.  In  the  sign  of  the  cross  he 
had  conquered.  The  head  of  the  Ro7nan  empt7'e 
was  now  a  Christian  ! 

Constantine's  father  before  him  had  been  friend- 
ly to  the  Christians,  and  had  done  much  to  im- 
prove conditions  for  them.  He  himself  was  at 
once  willing  and  able  to  do  far  more.  Even  be- 
fore his  conversion  he  issued  an  edict  favoring  the 
Church.  Now  in  the  year  312  he  issued  the  fa- 
mous Edict  of  Milan,  the  most  important  act  of  tol- 
eration in  the  history  of  Christianity;  for  it  grant- 
ed and  required  universal  religious  liberty — liberty 


140'  The  Church  of  the  Pathej's. 

not  to  Christians  only,  but  "to  all  men  freedom  to 
follow  the  religion  which  they  choose ;  that  what- 
ever heavenly  divinity  exists,"  continues  the  famous 
order,  "  may  be  propitious  to  us  and  to  all  who  live 
under  our  government." 

Constantine  was  the  man  for  the  times :  discern- 
ing, politic,  superstitious;  imperious,  yet  tolerant; 
vain,  but  far  from  weak;  a  man  of  ideas  and  of 
action;  a  statesman  and  a  soldier;  a  champion  of 
the  cross,  yet  half  heathen  till  his  death;  a  build- 
er of  Christian  churches,  yet  a  worshiper  still  in 
the  pagan  Pantheon  ;  an  impartial  supporter  of  or- 
thodoxy, but  baptized  by  an  Arian  heretic.  Such 
was  the  character  of  the  man  who,  we  say,  was 
born  for  the  times,  and  whom,  because  of  the  ex- 
traordinary impress  he  made  upon  history  for  good, 
we  rightly  call  "Great." 

With  the  sure  insight  of  a  statesman,  he  dis- 
cerned that  Christianity  was  the  winning  faith 
against  an  effete  paganism,  and  was  therefore  to 
be  made  the  ally  of  the  State,  and  the  supporter  of 
his  dream  of  Rome's  eternal  and  universal  domin- 
ion. Many  Christians  were  in  his  army  when  he 
marched  against  Maxentius,  and  no  doubt  the 
cross  did  contribute  to  his  victory.  The  well- 
known  friendliness  of  both  his  father  and  himself 
to  the  hitherto  persecuted  sect  caused  many  of 
them,  as  he  approached  Rome,  to  flock  to  the 
sacred  standard  which  he  raised.  As  to  his  su- 
perstitious nature,  that  was  in  the  family.  His 
mother,   Helen,   reputed    finder   of    the    cross   of 


The  Church  and  the  Empire.  141 

Christ  at  Jerusalem,  was  given  to  making  devout 
pilgrimages;  Constantius  and  Constantia,  son  and 
daughter,  were  fanatical  Arianists;  while  Julian 
the  Apostate,  his  nephew,  was  devoted  to  pagan- 
ism with  the  greatest  fanaticism  of  all.  Constan- 
tine  was  to  the  last  half  a  heathen :  he  did  not  re- 
ceive  baptism  till  upon  his  deathbed.  When  he 
gave  civil  sanction  to  the  Christian's  holy  day,  it 
was  as  dies  Solis — Apollo's  day,  the  Sun's  da}' — 
not  dies  Domini .>  the  Lord's  day.  The  emperor 
who  called  and  presided  over  the  First  Ecumenical 
Council  had  as  high  a  reverence  for  Apollo  as 
for  Christ — for  the  sun  as  for  the  cross,  their  re- 
spective symbols.  Happily  for  the  world,  how- 
ever, he  saw  that,  as  the  dying  apostate  is  said  to 
have  exclaimed,  "the  Galilean  has  conquered." 

Constantine's  service  to  Christianity  and  to  man- 
kind was  doubtless  all  the  greater  because  of  his 
mixture — not  so  incongruous  then — of  heathenism 
and  Christianit}^  He  was  thereby  the  better  qual- 
ified to  assist  in  effecting  an  easy  transition  of  the 
populace  from  the  dying  to  the  conquering  faith. 
While  not  outlawing  and  attempting  to  abolish 
paganism  outright  —  which  extreme  policy  would 
have  aroused  extreme  opposition — he  every  way 
advanced  Christianity  by  means  of  the  imperial 
power.  His  edicts  conferring  advantages  were 
numerous  and  important.  The  clergy  were  ex- 
empt from  military  and  municipal  duties;  obnox- 
ious customs  and  ordinances  were  abolished ;  the 
emancipation  of  slaves  was  facilitated :   Christian 


142  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

bequests  to  churches  were  legalized;  the  Chris- 
tian day  of  rest  and  worship  was  sanctioned;  last- 
ly, the  emperor  gave  his  son  a  Christian  education. 

It  should  be  mentioned  that  his  removal  of  the 
seat  of  civil  authority  from  Rome  to  Byzantium, 
where  he  founded  the  city  named  after  him,  Con- 
stantinople^ tended  to  increase  the  spiritual  and 
ecclesiastical  power  of  the  still  imperial  city  by  the 
Tiber.  Her  dominion  was  not  lost,  it  was  not 
diminished;  it  was  universalized,  being  separated 
and  dissociated  from  its  particular  hereditary  seat. 
When  the  barbarians  came  and  devastated  the  city, 
Rome — the  power  that  ruled  the  world — still  sur- 
vived and  still  ruled. 

Constantine  died  in  the  year  337:  ''Not  to  be 
imitated  or  admired,"  concludes  Dean  Stanley, 
'*but  much  to  be  remembered,  and  deeply  to  be 
studied."  As  the  first  Christian  emperor,  even 
without  such  eminent  abilities  as  he  undoubtedly 
possessed,  he  is  secure  of  a  high  place  in  univer- 
sal history.  Under  his  banner,  the  cross  of  the 
Nazarene  Peasant,  Christianity  rose  to  be  the  su- 
preme power  in  the  government  of  the  world. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

"Christianity  and  the  Roman  Government,"  by  E.  G.  Har- 
dy, is  a  small  but  very  thorough  book  on  the  subject  of  Rome's 
attitude  toward  Christianity. 


THE  ARIAN  CONTROVERSY. 


"  In  vain  did  restless  pride,  as  that  of  Arius,  seek  to  pagan- 
ize Christianity  and  make  it  the  ally  of  imperial  despotism;  to 
prefer  a  belief  resting  on  authority  and  unsupported  by  an  in- 
ward witness,  over  the  clear  revelation  of  which  the  millions 
might  see  and  feel  and  know  the  divine  glory;  to  substitute 
the  conception,  framed  after  the  pattern  of  heathenism,  of  an 
agent,  superhuman  yet  finite,  for  faith  in  the  ever-continuing 
presence  of  God  with  man;  to  wrong  the  greatness  and  sanc- 
tity of  the  Spirit  of  God  by  representing  it  as  a  birth  of  time. 
Against  these  attempts  to  subordinate  the  enfranchising  virtue 
of  truth  to  false  worship  and  to  arbitrary  power,  reason  asserted 
its  supremacy,  and  the  party  of  superstition  was  driven  from 
the  fold.  .  .  .  Amid  the  deep  sorrows  of  humanity  during 
the  sad  conflict  which  was  protracted  through  centuries  for  the 
overthrow  of  the  past  and  the  reconstruction  of  society,  the  con- 
sciousness of  an  incarnate  God  carried  peace  into  the  bosom  of 
mankind.  That  faith  emancipated  the  slave,  broke  the  bond- 
age of  woman,  redeemed  the  captive,  elevated  the'low,  lifted 
up  the  oppressed,  consoled  the  wretched,  inspired  alike  the  he- 
roes of  thought  and  the  countless  masses.  The  downtrodden 
nations  clung  to  it  as  to  the  certainty  of  their  future  emancipa- 
tion; and  it  so  filled  the  heart  of  the  greatest  poet  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages — perhaps  the  greatest  poet  of  all  time — [Dante]  that 
he  had  no  prayer  so  earnest  as  to  behold  in  the  profound  and 
clear  substance  of  the  eternal  light  that  circling  of  reflected 
glory  which  showed  the  image  of  man." — Bancroft. 

(H4) 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  ARIAN  CONTROVERSY. 

I,  Origin. 

Having  risen  to  power  in  the  State,  and  having 
incorporated  in  itself,  in  a  large  measure,  both 
Greek  philosophy  and  Roman  government,  the 
Church,  even  in  its  day  of  victory,  stood  in  dan- 
ger of  disruption  and  downfall.  Triumphant  even 
over  the  empire,  it  remained  to  prove  whether  it 
could  govern  itself;  triumphant  over  paganism,  it 
had  yet  to  determine  what  should  be  its  own  rule 
of  faith  and  doctrinal  teachings.  The  great  con- 
troversy now  to  be  given  an  account  of  had  its 
origin  with  the  very  beginning  of  Christianity, 
and  grew  as  it  grew.  Its  seeds  lurked  alike  in 
the  earliest  Judaistic  and  Hellenistic  heresies:  in 
Ebionism  and  in  Gnosticism ;  also  in  the  philo- 
sophic systems  which  most  influenced  Christian 
thinkers:  Philonism  and  Neoplatonism.  The  hu- 
manitarian doctrine  of  Christ,  wherein  he  was 
given  forth  as  only  a  man — divine,  it  is  true,  pre- 
existent,  as  all  excellent  things  (the  ark,  the  law, 
the  temple)  were,  in  Jewish  thought,  and  sent  from 
heaven,  yet  still  only  a  superior  Godlike  man — was 
current  in  the  early  Church  and  prevailed  with 
many  eminent  teachers. 

The  apologists  themselves  held  views  of  this 
19  (H5) 


146  The  Church  of  the  Father. 

tendency.  The  saying  of  Tertullian,  the  greatest 
of  the  theologians  of  his  generation,  that  "time 
was  when  the  Son  was  not  with  the  Father,"  in- 
dicates their  common  thought.  And  this  was  a 
primary  idea  in  Arianism.  Origen's  doctrine  of 
an  eternal  Logos  above  the  apparent  Christ — a 
speculation  as  old  at  least  as  Justin  Martyr,  who 
taught  an  impersonal  Logos  in  God  from  the  be- 
ginning that  became  personal  only  prior  to  and  for 
the  purpose  of  creation — and  of  Christ's  genera- 
tion by  the  will  of  God,  is  also  Arianistic.  From 
the  first  of  these  Christian  philosophers,  on  through 
the  series,  authority  can  be  found,  indeed,  for  say- 
ings that  came  under  the  condemnation  of  the 
Church  a  little  later.  Their  general  want  of  con- 
sistency, both  severally  in  themselves  and  with  one 
another,  prevents  us  from  saying  their  influence 
was  wholly  in  this  direction  ;  but,  in  general,  their 
philosophy  of  Christ  as  the  Logos  of  God  tended  to 
Arian  conclusions.  Their  thought  of  God,  as  the 
Cause  and  Creator,  and  as  one  and  absolute,  made 
necessary  the  conception  of  another  Divine  Being  as 
subordinate,  inferior,  and  begotten  for  a  purpose — 
which  purpose  with  the  apologists  was,  in  general, 
the  inspiration  of  rationality  into  the  created  uni- 
verse .  Tertullian ,  with  his  legal  fiction  of  '  *  person ' ' 
and  delegation  of  duty,  based  upon  the  Roman  theo- 
ry of  office,  gives  ample  room  for  the  doctrine  of  the 
subordination  of  the  second  "person  "  of  the  Trin- 
ity. The  character  of  finiteness,  furthermore,  be- 
longed to  the  Christ,  or  Logos,  of  the  apologists. 


The  Aria?i  Controversy.  147 

He  was  able  to  enter  into  relation  with  the  finite 
only  because  he  himself  was  of  finite  origin.  He 
is  called  a  "second,"  "another,"  and  a  '* visible" 
God. 

To  sum  up  the  results  of  this  stage  of  Christo- 
logical  thought,  it  may  be  said  that  there  were  two 
general  conceptions  of  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ 
almost  Irom  the  beginning,  namely :  First,  that  he 
was  one  whom  God  chose  and  sent  into  the  world 
upon  a  special  mission,  whom  he  tested,  and,  hav- 
ing found  him  faithful,  adopted  as  his  Son  and 
invested  with  dominion.  This  view  is  variously 
called  H^umanitarian,  Dynamic,  and  Adoptian.  It 
finds  its  authority  in  the  synoptic  gospels  and  in 
the  Shepherd  of  Hermas.  It  was  the  common 
view,  apparently,  at  Rome,  and  was  widespread 
in  early  times.  The  Artemenites  claimed  that  "all 
the  early  teachers  and  the  apostles  received  and 
taught"  this  doctrine.  Secondly,  there  was  the 
so-called  Pneumatic  view,  according  to  which  Je- 
sus w^as  a  heavenly  being  (the  Gnostic  concep- 
tion), one  of  many  spiritual  natures,  but  next  in 
rank  to  God;  that  he  assumed  flesh  of  the  Virgin, 
and,  having  accomplished  his  redemptive  work, 
returned  to  his  former  place  with  God.  The  au- 
thority for  this  conception  is  found  in  the  Pauline 
and  Johannine  writings  and  in  the  first  epistle  of 
Clement.  Either  of  these  views  might  have  fur- 
nished elements  to  Arianism.  The  historical  con- 
nection of  Arianism  with  the  former  view  is  a  cer- 
tainty,  although  Arianism   did   not,   in  the  early 


148  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

stages  of  its  development,  advance  so  far  in  its  ra- 
tionalistic unitarian  tendencies  as  to  embrace  the 
pure  Adoptian  or  Philanthropic  doctrine.  Its  ten- 
ets were  qualified  by  the  Pneumatic  Christology. 

Our  discussion  of  Monarchianism  brought  out 
the  fact  that  there  were  two  branches  of  the  here- 
sy, in  sharp,  well-defined  contrast  the  one  to  the 
other;  and  their  opposing  doctrines  constituted 
the  Scylla  and  Charybdis  of  the  Christian  thinker 
of  the  third  century.  There  seemed  to  be  no  es- 
cape from  one  or  the  other  peril.  Setting  out  with 
the  idea  of  the  unity  and  sole  monarchy  of  God 
in  common,  the  one  class,  represented  in  the  com- 
plete development  of  the  school  by  Paul  of  Samo- 
sata,  held  to  the  Adoptian  or  Humanitarian  view  of 
Christ;  while  the  other  class,  represented  by  Sa- 
bellius,  held  to  Christ's  absolute  Godhead  and  com- 
plete identity  with  the  Father. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  every  Christian  who  indulged 
himself  in  speculation  at  all  during  this  period 
found  himself,  if  he  thought  logically,  in  danger 
either  of  Samosatianism  or  of  Sabellianism.  Not 
infrequently  did  some  zealous  or  able  Catholic  un- 
dertake the  defense  of  the  true  faith  against  one  or 
the  other  party  of  Monarchians,  only  to  find  him- 
self accused  as  a  heretic  and  included  in  the  ranks 
of  the  other  party.  The  case  of  Dionysius  of  Al- 
exandria is  notable.  A  pupil  of  Origen,  he,  like 
his  master,  suggests  most  forcibly  the  modern  spirit 
and  way  of  thinking.  He  was,  altogether,  one  of 
the  ablest  and  sanest  thinkers  of  the  early  Church. 


The  Arian  Controversy,  149 

Undertaking  to  correct  the  Sabellianism  of  certain 
bishops  in  upper  Libya,  he  gave  such  expression 
to  the  opposing  doctrines,  which  he  held  from  Ori- 
gen,  and  beheved  to  be  CathoHc,  as  caused  him  to 
be  forthwith  accused  of  Samosatianism.  The  con- 
troversy that  ensued  is  a  foreshadowing  of  that 
which  took  the  name,  a  half  century  and  more  later, 
of  one  who  was  born  in  this  same  region  about  this 
very  time — Arius.  What,  then,  were  the  charges 
brought  against  Dionysius?  He  was  accused  of 
maintaining,  first,  that  the  Son  was  created ;  sec- 
ondly, that  he  was  not  eternal ;  thirdly,  that  he  was 
not  coessential  with  the  Father.  In  general,  there- 
fore, he  was  guilty  of  his  master's  error,  namely,  the 
separation  and  subordination  of  the  Son;  for  Ori- 
gen  spoke  of  the  unity  of  the  Father  and  the  Son 
as  only  a  moral,  not  an  essential,  unity,  and  ranked 
the  Son  as  intermediary  between  God  and  the  uni- 
verse— a  '*  second  God,"  subordinate  to  the  *'very 
God,"  and  indeed  to  the  true  ''eternal  Logos." 

The  treatment  of  the  difficulty  by  Dionysius  of 
Rome,  to  whom  his  defense  was  made,  is  the  most 
noteworthy  fact  of  the  situation.  He  protests 
against  the  division  of  the  Sacred  Monad  into  three 
powers,  or  subsistences,  whereby  three  Gods  are 
preached,  and  insists  upon  preserving  their  eter- 
nal union.  "For  it  must  needs  be,"  he  says, 
"that  with  the  God  of  the  universe  the  Divine 
Word  is  united,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  must  repose 
and  habitate  in  God."  Each  error  is  taken  up 
and   dealt  with,  not  as   a  philosopher  dealy  with 


IJo  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

abstruse  problems,  but  rather  as  a  Roman  states- 
man says  what  "must"  be  and  be  done.  Without 
having  given  a  logical  exposition  of  the  mystery, 
he  concludes  by  saying:  ''We  must  believe  in 
God  the  Father  Almighty,  and  in  Jesus  Christ  his 
Son,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  hold  that  to  the 
God  of  the  universe  the  Word  is  united."  There 
is  here  manifestly  no  solution  of  the  problem  at 
all:  the  fact  of  a  most  serious  problem  demand- 
ing solution  is  only  made  more  apparent. 

In  this  controversy  between  the  Dionysii  every 
point  of  the  later  controversy  between  Arius  and 
Athanasius  was  anticipated.  The  very  phrases 
which  later  became  the  test-words  and  badges  of 
the  parties  to  the  strife  now  came  into  use:  "  ho- 
moousios,"  "  There  w^as  a  time  when  he  was  not," 
"  He  was  not  before  he  was  begotten,"  etc. — these 
were  the  most  important  throughout  this  period. 

The  part  played  by  one  other  personage  yet  re- 
mains for  consideration  before  the  controversy 
proper  comes  distinctly  to  view.  Soon  after  the 
council  of  Antioch  that  condemned  Paul  (about 
A.D.  268),  Lucian  appears  upon  the  stage  and  be- 
gins an  important  part,  as  the  champion  of  Paul's 
doctrines.  He  is  one  of  the  most  learned  men, 
and  altogether  the  most  learned  teacher,  of  the 
time.  Two  of  his  traits  are  especially  noteworth3^ 
Coming  from  Edessa,  the  home  of  Bardesanes, 
where  a  free  and  original  spirit  prevailed,  first,  he 
had,  it  is  said,  a  dislike  of  "the  theology  of  the 
ancients,"  by  which  it  seems  was  meant  he  was 


The  Arian  Controversy.  151 

reluctant  to  be  bound  by  the  authority  of  tradi- 
tion ;  secondly,  his  study  of  the  Bible  was  critical 
and  his  method  of  interpretation  was  literal  as  op- 
posed to  the  allegorical  method.  Antioch  afford- 
ed a  congenial  atmosphere.  In  that  region,  Juda- 
istic — that  is,  humanitarian — tendencies  of  thought 
seem  to  have  been  prevalent  from  early  times. 
Paul's  "grossly  humanitarian"  views  were  ac- 
knowledged to  be  of  Jewish  origin.  Through  Lu- 
cian,  therefore,  the  connection  of  Arianism  with 
the  earliest  (Judaistic)  heresies  above  referred  to 
is  plainly  made  out,  and  our  justification  for  at- 
tempting to  trace  the  humanitarian  and  rational- 
istic element  in  Christological  thought  through 
each  succeeding  phase  of  the  history  must  be 
clear. 

Lucian,  as  the  head  of  the  exegetical  and  theo- 
logical school  of  Antioch — a  school  that  rivaled  in 
importance  the  famous  catechetical  school  of  Al- 
exandria, while  it  stood  in  marked  opposition  both 
in  method  and  doctrine  thereto  —  exercised  an 
overmastering  influence  upon  his  numerous  dis- 
ciples. He  did  no  less,  indeed,  than  to  create  a 
doctrinal  party  whose  chief,  later  on,  was  Arius, 
himself  a  pupil  of  Lucian.  ''This  school,"  says 
Harnack,  "is  the  nursery  of  the  Arian  doctrine, 
and  Lucian,  its  head,  is  the  Arius  before  Arius." 
From  the  few  extant  fragments  of  Lucian's  writ- 
ings the  following  doctrines  have  been  derived  as 
being  taught  by  him:  That  God  is  one,  without 
equal  and  alone  uncreated;  that  he   created  the 


152  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Logos ;  that  the  Son  advanced  to  moral  perfec- 
tion and  became  '*Lord."  He  appears,  there- 
fore, to  have  effected  a  union  of  the  doctrines  of 
Paul  and  of  Origen.  These  he  bequeathed,  togeth- 
er with  the  critical  and  dialectical  method  of  Aris- 
totle, to  that  body  of  disciples  who  were  proud 
to  call  themselves  "fellow-Lucianists,"  and  who 
formed  the  party  of  Arius. 

The  historical  genesis  of  the  heresy  can  be 
accurately  given  in  the  words  of  Alexander  of 
Alexandria:  ''Ye  are  not  ignorant  concerning 
Arianism,"  he  writes  to  the  other  churches,  "that 
this  rebellious  doctrine  belongs  to  Ebion  and  Ar- 
temas,  and  is  in  imitation  of  Paulus  of  Samosata. 
.  Paulus  was  succeeded  by  Lucian.  .  .  . 
Our  present  heretics  have  drunk  up  the  dregs  of 
their  impiety,  and  are  their  secret  offspring." 

2.  The  Open  Conflict. 

Of  the  outbreak  of  the  Arian  controversy  sev- 
eral accounts,  not  entirely  consistent  with  one 
another,  are  given.  Constantine,  in  an  epistle 
written  to  the  chief  disputants  with  a  view  to  their 
reconciliation,  gives  the  following,  which  may  be 
regarded  as  the  earliest:  "I  understand,  then," 
writes  the  Christian  emperor,  "that  the  origin  of 
the  present  controversy  is  this:  When  you,  Alex- 
ander, demanded  of  the  presbyters  what  opinion 
they  severally  maintained  respecting  a  certain 
passage  in  the  divine  law — or  rather,  I  should  say, 
that  you  asked  them  something  connected  with  an 


The  Arian  Controversy.  153 

unprofitable  question — then,  you,  Arius,  inconsid- 
erately insisted  on  what  ought  never  to  have  been 
conceived  at  all,  or,  if  conceived,  should  have 
been  buried  in  profound  silence.  Hence  it  was 
that  a  dissension  arose  between  you,  fellowship 
was  withdrawn,  and  the  holy  people,  rent  with  di- 
verse parties,  no  longer  preserved  the  unity  of  the 
one  body."  Socrates  relates  the  matter  some- 
what differently.  *'  When  Alexander  was  attempt- 
ing one  day,"  so  he  writes,  **in  the  presence  of 
the  presbytery  and  the  rest  of  his  clergy,  to  ex- 
plain, with  perhaps  too  philosophical  minuteness, 
that  great  theological  mystery,  the  unity  of  the 
holy  Trinity^  a  certain  one  of  the  presbyters  under 
his  jurisdiction,  whose  name  was  Arius,  possessed 
of  no  inconsiderable  logical  acumen,  imagining 
that  the  bishop  was  subtly  teaching  the  same  view 
of  this  subject  as  Sabellius,  the  Libyan,  from 
love  of  controversy  took  the  opposite  opinion  to 
that  of  the  Libyan,  and,  as  he  thought,  vigorously 
responded  to  what  was  said  by  the  bishop.  **  If," 
said  he,  ^*the  Father  begat  the  Son,  he  that  was 
begotten  had  a  beginning  of  existence ;  and  from 
this  it  is  evident  that  there  was  a  time  when  the 
Son  was  not.  It  therefore  necessarily  follows  that 
he  had  his  subsistence  from  nothing." 

At  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  the  dissension 
Arius  was  a  presbyter  of  Alexandria,  in  charge  of 
the  church  of  Beukalis.  He  was  of  attractive  per- 
sonal address,  popular  in  his  parish,  and  blame- 
less in  his  character  and   ascetic  in  his  habits  of 


154  ^/^^  Chu7'ch  of  the  Fathers, 

life.  Socrates,  as  we  have  seen,  attributes  to  him 
**  no  inconsiderable  logical  acumen, ' '  and  Sozomen 
says  he  was  *'a  zealous  thinker  about  doctrine" 
and  *'an  expert  logician."  Born  in  Libya  about 
the  year  256,  perhaps  of  Greek  parentage,  he  was 
an  old  man  when  he  entered  the  arena  for  theo- 
logical combat,  about  A.D.  318.  He  was  no 
doubt  led  thereto  by  a  genuine  zeal  for  the  doc- 
trine of  the  unity  of  the  Godhead  and  his  demand 
for  logical  clearness  and  consistency.  A  synod 
of  nearly  one  hundred  Egyptian  and  Lib3^an  bish- 
ops, called  by  Alexander  about  A.D.  320-321, 
condemned  his  doctrines  and  deposed  him  along 
with  others  as  atheists.  From  exile  Arius  wrote 
to  his  *'fellow-Lucianist  and  true  Eusebius:  "He 
[Alexander]  has  driven  us  out  of  the  city  as  athe- 
ists, because  we  do  not  concur  in  what  he  public- 
ly preaches,  namely,  '  God  always,  the  Son  always ; 
as  the  Father,  so  the  Son;  the  Son  coexists  un- 
begotten  with  God;  he  is  everlasting;  neither 
by  thought  nor  by  any  interval  does  God  pre- 
cede.' These  are  impieties  to  which  we  cannot 
listen,  even  though  the  heretics  threaten  us  with  a 
thousand  deaths."  There  is  Arius's  own  pres- 
entation of  the  case.  Proceeding  to  his  friend 
and  *'fellow'Lucianist,"  Eusebius,  at  Nicomedia, 
he  engages  actively  with  his  followers  in  the  dis- 
semination of  his  opinions  and  in  organizing  op- 
position to  Alexander.  On  the  other  hand,  *'when 
Alexander  perceived,"  writes  Sozomen,  *'that 
many  who  were  revered  by    the  appearance    of 


The  Arian  Controversy.  155 

good  conduct  and  weighty  by  the  persuasiveness 
of  eloquence  held  with  the  party  of  Arius,  he 
wrote  to  the  bishops  of  every  church,  desiring 
them  not  to  hold  communion  with  them." 

The  dissension  grew  apace,  spreading  rapidly 
till  it  involved  the  whole  Eastern  Church.  Synod 
followed  synod,  but  "the  evil  only  became  worse." 
The  letters  of  Alexander  constitute  the  best  evi- 
dence of  the  alarm  with  which  the  situation  was 
viewed.  "Many  heresies,"  he  writes  in  an  ency- 
clical, "  have  arisen  before  these,  which,  exceed- 
ing all  bounds  in  daring,  have  lapsed  into  complete 
infatuation;  but  these  persons,  by  attempting  in 
all  their  discourses  to  subvert  the  divinity  of  the 
Word,  as  having  made  a  nearer  approach  to  Anti- 
christ, have  comparatively  lessened  the  odium  of 
former  ones."  Arius  at  Nicomedia  continued  ac- 
tive, disseminating  his  views  by  epistles  among 
the  bishops,  by  songs  among  the  common  people. 
"He  composed  several  songs,"  writes  Philostor- 
gius,  "to  be  sung  by  sailors,  and  by  millers,  and 
by  travelers  along  the  high  road. ' '  At  this  time  he 
composed  the  "Thalia,"  the  character  of  which 
we  know,  in  a  measure,  by  the  description  and 
the  extracts  given  by  Athanasius.  Some  sayings 
of  the  Thaha  run  as  follows:  "Equal  or  like 
himself  he  alone  [God]  has  none."  "The  Un- 
begun made  the  Son  a  beginning  of  things,  origi- 
nated and  advanced  him  as  a  Son  to  himself  by 
adoption."  "He  is  not  equal,  no,  nor  one  in  es- 
sence, with  him."     To  the  Son  the  Father  is  in- 


15^  "The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

visible  and  ineffable.  Still  the  Son  is  called  *'  God 
only  begotten  "  and  "a  strong  God."  ** At  God's 
will  the  Son  is  what  and  whatsoever  he  is.'  " 

3.  The  First  Ecumenical  Council. 

By  this  time  "  confusion  everywhere  prevailed." 
The  people  took  up  the  controversy  and  became 
divided.  "Disputes  and  contentions  arose  in  ev- 
ery city  and  in  every  village  concerning  theolog- 
ical dogmas."  In  consequence,  "  Christianity  be- 
came a  subject  of  popular  ridicule,  even  in  the 
very  theaters."  So  write  Theodoret  and  Soc- 
rates. 

This  confusion  was  worse  confounded  by  the 
mingling  of  the  Meletians  with  the  Arians,  and 
their  making  common  cause  against  the  party  in 
power.  This  sect  was  strong  in  the  Thebaid — the 
very  region  where  Arianism,  so  denominated,  had 
its  orgin. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  in  view  of  this  state 
of  general  strife,  that  Constantine,  the  mighty 
Christian  emperor,  appeared  to  be  the  only  one 
on  earth  capable  of  being  God's  minister  for  the 
healing  of  the  differences.  The  frequent  synods 
— one,  at  least,  of  which,  that  of  Bithynia,  had  de- 
cided in  favor  of  Arius — and  numerous  conciliatory 
letters  on  the  part  of  the  Arians  had  accomplished 
nothing.  Neither  had  the  mediatory  epistle  of  the 
emperor,  above  referred  to,  brought  about  peace. 
Therefore,  to  the  imperial  mind,  as  counseled  by 
the  eminent  bishop   of  Cordova   (Hosius),  there 


The  Arian  Controversy,  157 

seemed  to  be  but  one  way  left  to  heal  the  dissen- 
sion, and  that  was  to  call  a  general  council. 

Besides,  other  disputes  were  pressing  for  settle- 
ment. Diversity  of  opinion  and  practice  concern- 
ing the  celebration  of  the  passover  prevailed — 
some  of  the  churches,  particularly  in  the  East, 
keeping  the  festival  according  to  the  Jewish  cus- 
tom, while  the  Western  churches  (except  the  Kel- 
tic) observed  it  according  to  the  time  fixed  by 
Easter.  A  division  of  the  Church  into  an  East- 
ern and  Western  branch  seemed  imminent.  The 
Meletian  schism  also  called  for  healing. 

The  Christian  emperor,  solicitous  above  all 
things  for  the  unity  of  his  empire,  proceeded 
(about  A.D.  324)  to  summon  a  general  council. 
Addressing  the  more  prominent  bishops  individ- 
ually, he  summoned  them  by  letter  from  every 
quarter  of  the  empire  to  meet  him  at  Niceea,  in 
Bithynia,  at  an  appointed  time.  To  facilitate 
their  coming,  he  allowed  to  some  the  means  of 
public  conveyance  and  to  others  he  furnished  an 
ample  supply  of  beasts  of  burden.  The  bishops 
hastened  to  the  appointed  place  of  assemblage, 
attended  by  their  presbyters,  deacons,  and  serv- 
ants. Their  number  is  variously  given  by  our  au- 
thorities, no  two  agreeing,  but  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  is  the  accepted  number.  Eusebius  adds 
that,  with  the  presbyters  and  deacons,  ''the  crowd 
of  acolytes  and  other  attendants  was  altogether 
beyond  computation."  The  representation  came 
mostly  from  the  Eastern  and  African  churches, 


158  The  Church  of  the  Pathers. 

there  being  but  seven,  all  told,  from  the  Latin 
churches.  It  is  estimated  that  those  present  were 
about  one-sixth  of  the  whole  number  of  bishops 
in  the  empire.  The  see  of  Rome  was  represent- 
ed by  two  presbyters.  The  personnel  of  **the 
great  and  holy  council"  is  thus  described  by  Eu- 
sebius:  "Of  these  ministers  of  God,  some  were 
distinguished  by  wisdom  and  eloquence,  others  by 
the  gravity  of  their  lives  and  by  patient  fortitude 
of  character,  while  others  again  united  in  them- 
selves all  these  graces."  Theodoret  speaks  of  the 
assemblage  wnth  equal  admiration.  From  "the 
frantic  rage  of  Licinius,"  "many  bore  in  their 
bodies  the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  One 
"had  been  deprived  of  the  use  of  both  hands  by  the 
application  of  a  red-hot  iron."  "Some  had  the 
right  eye  dug  out,  others  had  lost  the  right  arm." 
At  the  appointed  time,  in  the  great  hall  of  the 
palace,  specially  prepared  for  the  assembly,  the 
First  Ecumenical  Council  was  opened.  First,  one 
of  the  bishops,  addressing  the  emperor,  delivered 
a  concise  speech — so  Eusebius  relates,  and  subse- 
quent writers  have  inferred  that  this  bishop  was 
Eusebius  himself.  But  Theodoret  says  that  it  was 
"the  great  Eustathius,  bishop  of  Antioch,"  who 
"crowned  the  emperor's  head  with  the  flowers  of 
panegyric."  The  emperor  responded,  exhorting 
the  bishops  to  unanimity  and  concord.  After  the 
opening  of  the  assembly,  many  personal  causes  were 
presented  to  the  emperor  for  a  hearing.  With  wise 
and  fatherly  words  he  referred  them  one  and  all 


The  Avian  Controversy.  159 

to  the  Supreme  Judge  for  redress,  and  ordered 
their  petitions  to  be  burned.  The  way  was  cleared 
for  the  main  issue. 

The  Arians  took  the  initiative.  Having  drawn 
up  a  formulary  of  their  faith,  they  presented  it  to 
the  council.  It  was  immediately  torn  into  frag- 
ments. This  was  decisive.  *'So  great  was  the 
uproar  raised  against  them,"  says  Theodoret, 
*'  and  so  many  were  the  reproaches  cast  upon  them 
for  having  betrayed  religion,  that  they  all,  with 
the  exception  of  Secundus  and  Theonas,  stood  up 
and  took  the  lead  in  publicly  renouncing  Arius." 
The  Arians  had  come  to  Nic^a  confident  of  vic- 
tory. Their  oganization  as  a  party  was  more  per- 
fect, their  doctrines  were  more  clearly  and  logic- 
ally formulated.  Besides  pronounced  partisans, 
they  counted  many  eminent  bishops  who  were 
favorable  to  their  cause.  They  hoped,  by  the 
means  they  were  able  to  employ,  to  win  over  to 
their  side  the  great  mass  of  those  whose  minds 
were  not  as  yet  made  up.  They  suffered  defeat 
before  the  battle  was  fairly  begun. 

What,  as  appears  from  the  several  accounts, 
were  the  doctrines  held  in  dispute?  These  have 
already  come  to  our  notice  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
the  controversy,  but  we  may  subject  them  to  a 
more  careful  consideration.  Eusebius,  the  histo- 
rian, presented,  in  the  interests  of  harmony,  a 
creed  on  which  he  believed  all  could  unite.  It 
was  the  creed  which  was  in  use  in  the  church  at 
Caesarea  —  a  symbol   of    faith    of    unquestioned 


i6o  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

soundness  and  of  venerable  authority.  **No 
room,"  he  afterwards  wrote,  "  appeared  for  con- 
tradiction." The  emperor  approved,  and  advised 
all  to  assent.  Only  one  addition  seemed  to  be  re- 
quired, namely,  that  of  the  once  rejected  word, 
*'homoousios" — consubstantial — which  was  to  be 
conceived  *'in  a  divine  and  ineffable  manner." 
Under  pretense,  however,  of  making  this  single 
insertion,  the  Athanasian  party  subjected  the  re- 
vered creed  of  Eusebius  to  such  a  revision  as  ut- 
terly changed  its  character,  and  made  a  defense 
to  his  church  seem  necessary.  As  revised,  the 
creed  read  as  follows: 

*'  We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Al- 
mighty, Maker  of  all  things  both  visible  and 
invisible.  And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  begotten  of  the  Father,  only  be- 
gotten, that  is  to  say,  of  the  substance  of  the 
JFathcr,  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  vcj-y  God 
of  very  God,  begotten,  not  made,  being  of  one  sub- 
stance with  the  Father,  by  whom  all  things  were 
made,  both  things  in  heaven  and  things  in  earth, 
-who,  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation,  came  down 
and  was  made  flesh,  and  was  9Jiade  man,  suffered 
and  rose  again  on  the  third  day;  went  up  into  the 
heavens,  and  is  to  come  again  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead.     And  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

''''But  those  who  say  '  there  was  when  he  was  not,^ 
and  that  ^  he  came  into  existence  from  what  was  not,'' 
or  who  profess  that  the  Son  of  God  is  of  a  different 
^essence''  or  ^ substance^'  or  that  he  is  created,  or 


The  A^'ian  Controversy,  i6i 

changeable^  or  variable^  are  anathematized  by  the 
Catholic  Ch urch . ' ' 

The  additions,  consisting  of  the  itaUcized  phra- 
ses, adequately  indicate  the  differences  between 
the  two  extreme  parties,  and  were  designed  to  ex- 
clude the  Arians. 

The  teaching  of  Arius  may  be  summarized  as 
follows:  God  alone  is  eternal  and  unbegotten; 
he  alone  is  very  God.  The  Son  is  created  out 
of  nothing  by  the  will  of  God  before  all  ages ; 
there  was  a  time  when  he  was  not ;  he  was  cre- 
ated that,  as  the  power  of  God,  he  might  bring 
the  rest  of  creation  into  existence  ;  he  is  independ- 
ent of  and  different  from  the  Father;  he  is  a  spe- 
cial, perfect  creation,  and,  furthermore,  by  grace 
and  adoption,  occupies  a  special  relation  to  the 
Father;  he  may  be  called  God,  but  not  **very" 
God.  His  appeal  for  authority  was  to  Scripture. 
These  passages  in  particular  were  quoted:  '*The 
Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord";  **  There  is  no 
God  with  me";  **  The  Lord  created  me  in 
the  beginning  of  his  way";  *' I  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  cast  out  devils  "  ;  *'  God  hath  made  him  both 
Lord  and  Christ";  ''Christ  the  power  of  God 
and  the  wisdom  of  God"  ;  ''Who  is  the  image  of 
the  invisible  God,  the  firstborn  of  all  creation"; 
"The  Father  is  greater  than  I,"  etc.  All  those 
passages  were  utilized  which  assert  or  imply  limi- 
tation, deficiency,  subordination,  subjection,  prog- 
ress, independence,  temptation,  and  the  like. 
But  victory  was  not  for  the  disciples  of  Lucian. 
1 1 


i62  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

The  orthodox  party,  though  it  came  to  Nicsea  in 
the  minority,  were  triumphant  at  every  point  and 
pushed  their  advantage  to  the  extreme  limit.  The 
coeternity  and  the  consubstantiality  of  the  Son 
with  the  Father — nay,  the  very  deity  of  Jesus — was 
estabHshed  in  the  creed  of  the  Church  from  that 
day  to  this. 

4.  Varying  Party  Fortunes. 

The  rapid  changes  of  party  fortunes,  the  fre- 
quent synods  and  their  numerous  creeds,  the  local 
strifes  in  almost  all  the  Eastern  churches,  the  im- 
perial persecutions,  first  of  one  party  then  of  the 
other — all  which  things  follow  during  the  next 
forty  years  after  Nicasa  —  make  the  statement 
seem  historically  accurate,  that  the  controversy 
was  not  ended  there,  but  only  just  begun.  **The 
highways  were  covered  with  galloping  bishops," 
says  a  pagan  writer.  They  were  hastening  to  and 
from  synods  and  from  one  scene  of  conflict,  fraud, 
and  violence  to  another. 

All  the  heretics  but  Arius  himself  and  two  adher- 
ents, by  making  mental  reservations  and  compro- 
mises with  the  conscience,  submitted  to  sign  the 
creed  which  condemned  their  doctrines  and  anath- 
ematized themselves.  Herein  they  were  culpable. 
Their  future  course,  as  events  developed,  shows 
they  could  not  have  been  sincere.  Arius,  Theo- 
nas,  and  Secundus  had  the  courage  and  honor  to 
go  into  banishment  for  their  convictions — the  first 
in  Christian  history  to  suffer  a  civil  penalty  for 


The  Arian  Conh'oversy,  163 

this  cause.  In  the  subsequent  vicissitudes  of  the 
controversy,  others,  who  insincerely  subscribed, 
experienced  a  similar  fate — but  not  with  courage 
and  honor.  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  and  Theog- 
nis  of  Nicsea  were  the  first  of  these.  It  seems 
that  the  emperor  had  become  severe  against  the 
Arians  after  the  council,  and  threatened  with  civil 
punishment  all  who  continued  in  the  heresy. 
Having  decreed  that  the  books  of  Arius  should 
be  burned,  under  penalty  of  death  for  conceal- 
ment, he  now  menaced  with  imperial  repression 
any  who  should  dare  to  praise  those  whom  he  had 
condemned.  The  union  of  the  Church  and  the 
State  was  bearing  fruit  abundantly. 

About  this  time  (A.D.  328),  on  the  death  of  Al- 
exander of  Alexandria,  there  was  advanced  to  the 
episcopal  chair  of  that  see  one  who  must  engage 
the  greater  part  of  our  attention  throughout  the 
remaining  history  of  this  controversy.  The  com- 
pleteness of  the  orthodox  victory  at  Nic£ea  was 
due  to  no  one  else  so  much  as  to  a  certain  young 
deacon  whom  Alexander  brought  along  with  him 
from  the  Egyptian  metropolis.  His  extraordinary 
abihty  had  already  been  marked,  and  doubtless 
his  bishop  foresaw  eminent  service  from  him  in  the 
debates  that  were  sure  to  arise.  This  personage 
was  Athanasius,  destined  to  be  called  "  the  Great." 
In  force  of  character,  in  noble  ardor  for  a  cause 
he  deemed  paramount  to  all  others,  in  that  single- 
ness and  persistency  and  loftiness  of  purpose 
which  are  ever  necessary  to  great  achievements, 


164  The  Church  of  the  Fathe7's. 

and,  finally,  in  a  personality  that  made  its  impress 
permanently  upon  the  institutions  of  the  time,  he 
was  amply  deserving  of  the  title.  The  Nicene 
Creed,  which  has  remained  to  this  day  *'the  most 
universal  symbol  of  Christian  faith"  (Schaff),  *'a 
true  monument  and  token  of  victory  against  every 
heresy"  (Athanasius),  was  preeminently,  all  but 
entirely,  the  result  of  his  masterful  influence. 
After  the  council  his  activity  continues,  and  the 
interest  of  the  controversy  centers  about  his  person. 
It  was  natural  that  the  defeated  party  should  hate 
him.  So  where  the  conflict  rages  most  there  is  he 
found  in  the  midst.  Not  once  nor  twice  does  it 
seem  true  that  it  is  ''Athanasius  against  the  world 
and  the  world  against  Athanasius."  The  history 
of  this  eventful  period  is  largely  an  account  of  his 
varying  fortunes.  Five  times  in  exile,  he  keeps 
up  an  unyielding  warfare  against  the  enemies  of 
the  Church,  the  "atheists,"  "the  Ariomaniacs." 
The  emperor,  by  an  unexplained  change  of  at- 
titude, recalled  the  exiled  heretics,  and,  on  their 
presentation  of  an  acceptable  statement  of  faith, 
ordered  their  restoration  to  their  respective  sees. 
He  may  have  discovered  in  Arianism  a  counter- 
part and  support  of  the  theory  of  his  own  abso- 
lute headship  and  authority  in  the  Christian  state. 
The  result  was  an  occurrence  of  no  great  rarity, 
but  of  momentous  consequences  in  the  history  of 
Christendom,  namely,  the  alliance  of  a  political 
and  an  ecclesiastical  or  theological  party.  Men's 
notions,  divine  policies,  and   systems  agree  by  a 


The  A^'ian  Controversy,  165 

natural  necessity  with  their  theories  of  human 
governments. 

Arius,  returning  to  Alexandria,  was  refused  fel- 
lowship by  Athanasius,  who  said  '*  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  those  who  had  once  rejected  the  faith 
and  had  been  anathematized  to  be  again  received 
into  communion  on  their  return."  The  bishop  of 
Constantinople,  however,  by  the  emperor's  order, 
submitted  to  receive  the  still  uncompromising  foe 
of  **homoousia,"  but  the  event  never  happened. 
On  the  eve  of  his  restoration,  Arius,  while  on  his 
way  to  the  city,  was  suddenly  taken  ill,  and  amid 
convulsions  immediately  died.  His  enemies  saw 
in  this,  of  course,  the  hand  of  Providence.  Oth- 
ers more  than  suspected  it  was  poison. 

At  Antioch  the  Arians,  by  the  most  shameless 
fraudulence  (according  to  our  orthodox  histo- 
rians), expelled  the  good  bishop  Eustathius  and 
installed  a  succession  of  heretics.  Their  machina- 
tions everywhere  against  Athanasius  are  of  the 
darkest  hue.  The  charge  which,  after  many 
others  had  failed,  proved  effective  with  the  emper- 
or was  that  he  had  threatened  to  prevent  the  ex- 
portation of  corn  from  Alexandria  to  Constantino- 
ple. This  was  an  interference  with  the  public 
welfare  which  Constantine  could  not  tolerate. 
He  therefore  banished  Athanasius  to  Treves,  in 
Gaul,  as  a  disturber  of  the  peace  of  the  empire 
(A.D.  336).  After  an  exile  of  two  years  and  six 
months,  he  was  restored  by  Constantine  H.  By 
Constantius,  in  340,  he  was  forced  into  exile  the 


J 66  The  Chtirch  of  the  leathers. 

second  time.  A  council  at  Antioch  in  341  con- 
firmed the  emperor's  action. 

On  a  third  occasion  an  appeal  was  made  by  both 
sides  to  Rome.  This  see,  it  may  be  remarked, 
was  faithful  throughout  to  the  position  of  Athana- 
sius,  but  without  much  avail  at  this  or  any  time. 
Among  the  many  councils  of  the  period,  that  of 
Sardica,  A.D.  343  (or  344),  was  one  of  the  most 
important.  Some  two  hundred  and  forty  bishops 
were  in  attendance.  The  Arians,  probably  fore- 
seeing defeat,  took  flight  (as  the  historians  relate) 
soon  after  the  opening  of  the  council.  We  know 
the  method  of  all  the  early  councils:  the  first  act 
was  for  the  stronger  party  to  eject  the  weaker,  and 
then  to  assert  that  their  decrees  were  unanimously 
agreed  to  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

In  346  Athanasius  is  again  restored,  but  only  to 
go  again  into  exile  almost  immediately.  The  man- 
ner of  his  escape  from  the  church  where  he  was 
holding  a  vigil  service  by  night  is  dramatically  re- 
lated by  himself.  The  church  having  been  sur- 
rounded by  more  than  five  thousand  armed  sol- 
diers, Athanasius  went  out  with  the  monks,  while, 
it  seems,  the  deacon  and  the  people  chanted  a 
psalm  responsively. 

The  ascendency  gained  by  the  Arians  under 
Constantius  seems  to  have  been  well-nigh  com- 
plete. He  was  no  doubt  a  weak  and  vacillating 
ruler,  with  a  leaning  toward  the  heretical  party. 
A  bipartite  council,  meeting  at  Ariminum  and  at 
Seleucia  (A.D.  359),  each  division  rent  by  inter- 


The  At ian  Controversy,  167 

nal  discord  and  neither  arriving  at  unanimity,  was 
a  characteristic  event  of  the  time.  Another,  ruled 
by  Arians,  met  at  Nica  in  Thrace,  and  put  forth  a 
creed  in  which  ' '  those  who  refused  to  give  in  their 
adhesion  were  banished  to  the  most  remote  regions 
of  the  world." 

Julian,  known  in  history  by  the  opprobrious  epi- 
thet of  Apostate,  came  to  the  throne  in  the  year 
360.  Hoping  that  the  Christian  sects,  in  their  re- 
lentless strife,  would  exterminate  one  another,  he 
recalled  the  exiled  bishops.  But  Athanasius  he 
condemned  to  death ;  for,  as  Theodoret  remarks, 
the  pagans  said  "if  Athanasius  remained,  not  a 
heathen  would  remain."  So  great  was  the  influ- 
ence of  "  that  victorious  athlete  of  the  truth  !  "  It 
was  during  this  flight  of  Athanasius  from  death 
(A.D.  362)  that  the  famous  incident  of  his  ready 
wit  occurred  on  the  Nile.  On  his  way  up  the  riv- 
er, being  informed  that  his  pursuers  with  the  em- 
peror's death  warrant  were  close  upon  him,  he 
boldly  turned  about,  headed  down  the  stream  and 
met  his  foes.  To  their  query,  *'  How  far  off  is 
Athanasius?"  he  answered,  *'Not  far";  where- 
upon they  quickened  their  speed,  and  he  returned 
to  Alexandria. 

Jovian  (  363-364  A.D. )  and  Valentinian  ( 364-375 
A.D.  )  were  both  favorable  to  those  who  held  to  the 
Nicene  symbol,  and  restored  to  them  their  bishop- 
rics. Valens  (364-378),  however,  was  an  Arian — 
a  fact  of  great  consequence  in  all  the  subsequent 
history   of    Europe.     For,   during   his   reign,   the 


i68  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Goths  were  brought  under  Roman  sway  and 
forced  to  accept  the  dominant  faith.  It  was  not 
until  the  orthodox  Merovingians  in  alHance  with 
the  papal  chair  of  Rome  gained  the  ascendency 
that  the  Goths  were  again  compelled  by  the  sword 
to  change  their  faith  and  become  Catholics. 

Athanasius  died  A.D.  373.  This  event  comes 
near  to  marking  the  close  of  the  Arian  controver- 
sy. Under  Gratian,  "  an  adherent  of  the  true  re- 
ligion." the  exiled  shepherds  return  and  are  re- 
stored to  their  flocks.  The  Arians,  rent  by  internal 
factions,  never  regain  the  ascendency.  Arianism, 
according  to  philosophical  historians,  was  fore- 
doomed to  failure.  It  was  illogical,  an  impossi- 
ble compromise — neither  one  thing  nor  the  other. 
Christ,  according  to  the  Samosatians,  was  "very 
man  " — only  man  ;  according  to  the  Sabellians  he 
was  "very  God" — only  God;  according  to  the 
Catholic  standard  he  was  "very  God  and  very 
man" — the  "God-man."  Arianism  said  that  he 
was  neither  God  nor  man,  but  a  heavenly  being 
second  to  God,  and  sharing  the  nature  of  man — 
"a  nondescript,  illogical  compromise." 

The  Catholic  faith,  on  the  other  hand,  was  defi- 
nite, dogmatic,  imperative.  It  matters  not  how 
unintelligible  it  was,  its  appeal  was  to  faith,  and  it 
accorded  with  the  mode  of  the  rehgious  mind, 
which  sometimes  "believes  because  it  is  impossi- 
ble." The  temper  of  the  Roman  character,  which 
is  disposed  to  hold  by  authority,  and  is  averse  to 
change  after  a  thing  has  once  been  authoritatively 


The  Arian  Controversy.  169 

settled ;  the  exigencies  of  statecraft,  a  large  varie- 
ty of  events  and  circumstances  apparently  fortui- 
tous but  governed,  no  doubt,  by  their  own  laws — 
all  these  were  cooperating  influences  in  determining 
what  should  be  the  creed  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

"The  Arian  Controversy,"  by  H.  M.  Gwatkin,  in  "Epochs 
of  Church  History,"  is  a  good  account  of  events  and  doctrines. 


GREAT  MEN  OF  THE  EAST. 


"As  I  take  it,  universal  history,  the  history  of  what  man  lias 
accomplished  in  this  world,  is  at  bottom  the  history  of  the 
great  men  who  have  worked  here.  They  are  the  leaders  of 
men,  these  great  ones;  the  modelers,  patterns,  and  in  a  wide 
sense  creators,  of  whatsoever  the  general  mass  of  men  con- 
trived to  do  or  to  attain  ;  all  things  that  we  see  standing  accom- 
plished in  the  world  are  properly  the  outer  material  result,  the 
practical  realization  and  embodiment  of  thoughts  that  dwelt  ia 
the  great  men  sent  into  the  world ;  the  soul  of  the  whole  world's 
history,  it  may  be  considered,  were  the  history  of  these.    .    .    . 

•*  It  is  well  said,  in  every  sense,  that  a  man's  religion  is  the 
chief  fact  in  regard  to  him — a  man's,  or  a  nation  of  men's.  By 
religion  I  do  not  mean  the  Church  creed  which  he  professes, 
the  articles  of  faith  which  he  will  sign,  and,  in  words  or  other- 
wise, assert ;  not  this  wholly,  in  many  cases  not  this  at  all.  We 
see  men  of  all  kinds  of  professed  creeds  attain  to  almost  all  de- 
greesof  worthor  worthlessness  undereachorany  of  them.  This 
is  not  what  I  call  religion,  this  profession  and  assertion;  which 
is  often  only  a  profession  and  assertion  from  the  outworks  of 
the  man,  from  the  mere  argumentative  region  of  him,  if  even 
so  deep  as  that.  But  the  thing  a  man  does  practically  believe 
(and  this  is  often  enough  without  asserting  it  even  to  himself, 
much  less  to  others);  the  thing  a  man  does  practically  lay  to 
heart  and  know  for  certain,  concerning  his  vital  relations  to 
this  myterious  universe,  and  his  duty  and  destiny  there,  that  is 
in  all  cases  the  primary  thing  for  him,  and  creatively  determines 
all  the  rest:'— Carlv/e. 

(172) 


CHAPTER  IX. 

GREAT  MEN  OF  THE  EAST, 

We  are  now  in  the  epoch  of  great  men  in  the 
Church.  There  were  in  the  East  such  pulpit  ora- 
tors as  Gregory  of  Nazianzum  and  Chrysostom; 
such  theologians  as  Gregory  of  Nyssa  and  Theo- 
dore of  Mopsuestia,  and  such  organizers  of  forces 
as  Ephraim  the  Syrian  and  Basil  the  Great.  In 
the  West  there  was  an  Ambrose,  a  Jerome,  and  an 
Augustine.  While  metaphysical  problems  relating 
to  the  nature  of  the  Trinity  were  making  this  an 
age  of  keen  and  often  bitter  controversy,  the  force 
of  moral  ideas  contained  in  the  gospel  was  at  the 
same  time  making  it  an  age  of  uncompromising 
conflict  between  the  powers  of  evil  in  high  places 
and  the  powers  of  good  in  the  churches.  It  was 
an  age  of  great  splendor,  great  vice,  great  dissolu- 
tion, and  great  reconstruction,  and  of  great  spiritual 
energy  and  moral  movement. 

In  a  measure  there  was  reformation:  Monasti- 
cism  was  its  powerful  expression.  Out  of  the  con- 
trast between  the  corruption  of  the  luxury-loving 
world,  the  self-indulgence  of  the  degenerate  peo- 
ples of  Alexander's  and  Cassar's  dying  empire,  and 
the  passionate  austerity  and  the  quenchless  thirst 
for  righteousness  of  the  Christians,  arose  this  vast 
movement,  one  of  the  mightiest  and  most  enduring 
the  world  has  known.    This  austerity  which  knew 

(173) 


174  ^^^^  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

no  bounds,  this  aspiration  after  purity  which  con- 
sumed body  and  soul,  this  longing  for  heaven  which 
made  earth  a  hell  in  all  but  sin,  characterized  ev- 
ery one  of  the  great  preachers  and  leaders  of  that 
time. 

Of  the  chief  men  of  influence  in  this  period  in 
the  East  three  are  often  referred  to  as  ''  the  Cap- 
padocians."  They  were  born  in  the  same  re- 
gion of  Cappadocia  and  at  about  the  same  time ; 
they  were  friends  from  youth — two  of  them  were 
brothers.  They  were  liberally  educated  in  the 
same  schools,  they  acknowledged  the  same  theo- 
logical master  (Origen),  and  belonged  to  the  same 
school  of  doctrine.  They  have  come  down  to  us 
in  Church  history  as  "  the  three  great  Cappado- 
cians'' — Basil,  Gregory  of  Nazianzum,  and  Greg- 
ory of  Nyssa.  Their  labors  were  eminent,  their 
lives  were  high-pitched  to  lofty  aims. 

I.  Basil  the  Great. 

The  eldest  of  the  three,  at  least  by  from  one  to 
three  years,  was  Basil,  surnamed  the  Great.  He 
was  born  at  Caesarea,  A.D.  329,  of  parents  not 
only  wealth}^,  but  distinguished  for  piety.  Both 
his  mother,  Emmelia,  and  his  grandmother,  Macri- 
na,  are  saints  in  the  calendar:  they  were  his  earli- 
est teachers,  and  honored  by  him  as  the  best.  He 
was  the  eldest  of  five  sons,  four  of  whom,  includ- 
ing himself,  became  bishops — one  of  them  being 
Gregor3^  of  Nyssa.  An  elder  sister  is  commemo- 
rated by  him  as  **  Saint  Macrina.''     One  of  the 


Great  Men  of  the  East.  175 

most  notable  families  in  Christian  history.  Ba- 
sil attended  school  first  at  Ccesarea,  where  he 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
between  whom  and  himself,  afterwards  to  be  as- 
sociates in  greatness,  a  warm  attachment  grew  up. 
Next,  when  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  went  to  Con- 
stantinople, while  Gregory  went  to  Alexandria. 
At  Athens,  however,  after  a  separation  of  some 
four  or  five  years,  thej^  were  reunited,  and  pursued 
their  studies  together.  Basil  in  later  years  de- 
scribed their  manner  of  life  in  the  great  city  of 
culture  and  heathen  vice  as  follows:  ''We  knew 
only  two  streets  of  the  city:  the  first,  and  the  more 
excellent  one,  to  the  churches  and  to  the  ministers 
of  the  altar;  the  other,  which,  however,  we  did 
not  so  highly  esteem,  to  the  public  schools  and  to 
the  teachers  of  the  sciences.  The  streets  to  the 
theaters,  games,  and  places  of  unholy  amusements 
we  left  to  others.  Our  holiness  was  our  great  con- 
cern; our  sole  aim  was  to  be  called,  and  to  be. 
Christians.  In  this  we  placed  our  whole  glory." 
This  sounds  like  the  Wesle3^s  at  Oxford. 

Here  they  gained  that  mastery  of  rhetoric,  elo- 
quence, and  philosophy  from  the  great  pagan  teach- 
ers of  the  time  which  made  Basil  the  most  delight- 
ful letter-writer  and  Gregory  the  most  powerful  or- 
ator— the  *' Golden-mouth"  only  excepted — in  the 
early  Church.  Beginning  in  the  home  nursery, 
like  Timothy,  with  a  saintly  grandmother  and  an 
equally  pious  mother  as  his  teachers,  then  spend- 
ing many  years  in  the  great  university  centers,  one;. 


176  The  Church  of  the  leathers, 

after  another,  he  received  the  best  education  his 
age  could  afford. 

His  ideal  of  life  during  this  time  \Yas  taking 
shape,  and  it  was  on  Stoic  models — Stoic  models 
purified  and  elevated  by  Christian  ideas  and  Chris- 
tian motives.  After  he  had  returned  home  and 
renounced  wealth  and  worldly  honor — one  of 
which  was  already  his,  and  the  other  within  easy 
grasp — he  wrote  pleasantly  from  his  hermit  abode 
in  the  wilderness,  where  he  had  chosen  to  reside, 
to  a  friend  who  had  sent  him  some  gift :  * '  What  do 
you  mean,  my  dear  sir,  by  evicting  from  our  re- 
treat my  dear  friend  and  nurse  of  philosophy, 
Poverty?  Were  she  but  gifted  with  speech,  I  take 
it  you  would  have  to  appear  as  defendant  in  an 
action  for  unlawful  ejectment.  She  might  plead: 
*I  chose  to  live  with  this  man  Basil,  an  admirer  of 
Zeno,  who,  when  he  had  lost  everything  in  a  ship- 
wreck, cried  with  great  fortitude,  *'Well  done. 
Fortune  !  you  are  reducing  me  to  the  old  cloak  "  ; 
a  great  admirer  of  Cleanthes,  who,  by  drawing 
water  from  the  well,  got  enough  to  live  on  and 
pay  his  tutors'  fees  as  well;  an  immense  admirer 
of  Diogenes,  who  prided  himself  on  requiring  no 
more  than  was  absolutely  necessary,  and  flung 
away  his  bowl  after  he  had  learned  from  some 
lad  to  stoop  down  and  drink  from  the  hollow  of 
his  hand.'" 

In  theory  and  doctrine,  in  spirit  and  aim — 
tranquillity  by  exclusion  of  tlie  world  and  by 
self-conquest,    and    the     realization     of    a    living 


Great  Jllai  of  the  East,  177 

union  with  the  7iuniens  prcBsens,  an  indwelling 
God — Stoicism  and  Monasticism  were  strikingly 
similar. 

Feeling  the  spirit  of  the  age  moving  him,  Basil  set 
out  to  travel  and  study  the  monastic  life  in  the  va- 
rious regions  whence  the  fame  of  great  ascetics 
had  gone  forth.  In  Syria,  in  Arabia,  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, and  in  Egypt,  he  dwelt  among  the  hermits 
and  imbibed  their  enthusiasm  for  the  life  of  self- 
mortification.  From  this  further  schooling  in  a 
far  different  institute  from  any  w^hich  Constanti- 
nople or  Athens  boasted,  he  returned  to  his  home 
and  went  into  solitude.  A  letter  to  his  friend 
Gregory  declares  his  purpose.  "I  have  aban- 
doned my  life  in  town,  as  one  sure  to  lead  to 
countless  ills;  but  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  get 
quit  of  myself.  I  am  like  travelers  at  sea,  who 
have  never  gone  a  voyage  before,  and  are  dis- 
tressed and  seasick;  who  quarrel  with  the  ship  be- 
cause it  is  so  big  and  makes  such  a  tossing,  and 
w^hen  they  get  out  of  it  into  the  pinnace  or  dingey 
are  everywhere  and  always  seasick  and  distressed. 
Wherever  they  go  their  nausea  and  misery  go  wdth 
them."  *' What  exile  from  himself  e'er  fled?"  asks 
Byron.  We  must  work  our  work,  live  our  lives, 
struggle,  suffer,  and  act  in  the  world,  and  advance 
by  victory  and  by  defeat.  Basil's  aim  was  noble, 
his  spirit  true — his  way  w^as  not  the  wisest.  '*  We 
must  strive  after  a  quiet  mind,"  he  contmues,  **  that 
the  heart  may  readily  receive  every  impress  of  di- 
vine doctrine.  Preparation  of  heart  is  the  un- 
12 


178  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

learning  the  prejudices  of  evil  converse.  If  is  the 
smoothing  the  waxen  tablet  before  attempting  tc 
write  on  it."  His  abode  seems  a  paradise  to  him, 
and  his  state  approaches  that  of  the  angels  them^ 
selves.  *' What  can  be  more  blessed,"  he  exclaims, 
*'  than  to  imitate  on  earth  the  choruses  of  ano;els  ?  \q 
begin  the  day  with  prayer,  and  honor  our  Makei 
with  hymns  and  songs  ?  as  the  day  brightens,  to  be- 
take ourselves,  with  prayer  attending  on  it  through- 
out, to  our  labors,  and  to  season  our  work  with 
hymns,  as  if  with  salt?" 

In  another  letter  to  the  same  friend  he  describes 
his  retreat  with  poetic  fervor:  '*  I  departed  into 
Pontus  in  quest  of  a  place  to  live  in.  There  God 
has  opened  on  me  a  spot  exactly  answering  to  mj^ 
taste,  so  that  I  actually  see  before  my  eyes  what  I 
have  often  pictured  to  my  mind  in  idle  fancy. 
There  is  a  lofty  mountain  covered  with  thick 
woods,  watered  toward  the  north  with  cool  and 
transparent  streams.  A  plain  lies  beneath,  en- 
riched by  the  waters  which  are  ever  draining  off 
from  it,  and  skirted  by  a  spontaneous  profusion 
of  trees  almost  thick  enough  to  be  a  fence,  so  as 
even  to  surpass  Calypso's  island,  which  Homer 
seems  to  have  considered  the  most  beautiful  spot 
on  the  earth.  .  .  .  What  need  to  tell  of  the  ex- 
halations from  the  earth,  or  the  breezes  from  the 
river?  Another  might  admire  the  multitude  of 
flowers  and  singing  birds,  but  leisure  have  I  none 
for  such  thoughts.  However,  the  chief  praise  of 
the  place  is  that,  being  happily  disposed  for  prod- 


Great  Men  of  the  East.  179 

uce  of  every  kind,  it  nurtures  what  to  me  is  the 
sweetest  of  all,  quietness." 

Here  many  like-minded  with  himself  gather  about 
him,  and  the  wilderness  became  a  city.  Then  Basil 
displayed  his  genius,  his  ability  as  an  organizer, 
and  made  his  impress  upon  history.  Elsewhere, 
up  to  this  time,  the  hermits,  or  "dwellers  in  the 
desert"  (epe/xos),  had  lived  as  monks  {mo?ios= 
alone);  there  was  no  organization,  no  communi- 
ty; it  was  radical  individualism.  Basil  now  or- 
ganized the  "monks"  into  a  cosnobium,  a  com- 
munity; he  established  a  monastery. 

With  glowing  ardor  now  he  depicts  the  glories 
of  the  monastic  life.  His  sister,  Macrina,  had 
joined  him  in  the  forest,  and  was  presiding  over  a 
convent.  To  a  widow  whose  son  had  been  gained 
to  the  coenobium  of  Basil  he  wrote:  "The  art  of 
snaring  of  pigeons  is  as  follows.  When  the  men 
who  devote  themselves  to  this  craft  have  caught 
one,  they  tame  it  and  make  it  feed  with  them. 
Then  they  smear  its  wings  with  sweet  oil,  and  let 
it  go  and  join  the  rest  outside.  Then  the  scent  of 
that  sweet  oil  makes  the  free  flock  the  possession 
of  the  owner  of  the  tame  bird,  for  all  the  rest  are 
attracted  by  the  fragrance,  and  settle  in  the  house. 
But  why  do  I  begin  my  letter  thus?  Because  I 
have  taken  your  son  Dionysius,  once  Diomedes, 
and  anointed  the  wings  of  his  soul  with  the  sweet 
oil  of  God,  and  sent  him  to  you  that  you  might 
take  flight  with  him,  and  make  for  the  nest  which 
he  has  built  under  my  roof.     If  I  live  to  see  this. 


i8o  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

and  you,  my  honored  friend,  translated  to  our  lofty 
life,  I  shall  require  many  persons  worthy  of  God  to 
pay  him  all  the  honor  that  is  his  due." 

In  364  Basil  was  made  a  presbyter,  much  against 
his  will,  and  six  years  later  was  elevated  to  the 
archepiscopal  see  of  his  native  city.  He  distin- 
guished himself  in  these  years  not  only  in  theo- 
logical defenses  of  the  Nicene  Creed  against  the 
Arian  Eunomius,  and  in  his  exposition  of  the  na- 
ture and  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit  against  Macedo- 
nius,  but  as  a  Church  ruler  and  a  powerful  preach- 
er. He  died  in  379,  saying,  *'Into  thy  hands  I 
commend  my  spirit."  Worthily  canonized  as  a 
saint,  he  is  called  by  councils  and  fathers  *'the 
glory  of  the  Church,"  a  *' minister  of  grace," 
''a  layer  of  the  foundations  of  orthodoxy,"  and 
**the  Great."  By  one  saying  of  his  he  might  be 
well  remembered:  *'That  prayer  is  good  which 
imprints  a  clear  idea  of  God  in  the  soul;  and  the 
having  God  established  in  self  by  means  of  mem- 
ory is  God's  indwelling." 

2.  Gregory  Nazianzen. 

Fellow-countryman  with  Basil,  and  friend  from 
boyhood  and  coworker  in  the  high  places  of  the 
Church  with  him,  Gregory's  biography  cannot  be 
separately  given.  Yet,  equally  eminent  in  differ- 
ent abilities  and  in  different  labors  with  the  great 
Church  ruler,  this  man  of  eloquence  and  theology 
has  much  that  is  distinctive  to  be  said  of  him. 

Gregory  was    born    A.D.    330,   at   Nazianzum 


Great  Afen  of  the  East.  i8i 

(hence  called  *' Nazianzen  "),  in  Cappadocia,  of 
a  family  high  in  rank,  influence,  and  wealth.  Like 
Basil,  he  had  a  mother  whose  name  is  like  a  star 
in  these  ancient  heavens  of  perished  lights.  Her 
portraiture  shall  be  in  the  words  of  her  worthy 
son.  *'She  was,"  he  writes,  *'a  wife  according 
to  the  mind  of  Solomon:  in  all  things  subject  to 
her  husband  according  to  the  laws  of  marriage, 
not  ashamed  to  be  his  teacher  and  his  leader  in 
true  religion.  She  solved  the  difficult  problem  of 
uniting  a  higher  culture,  CvSpecially  in  knowledge 
of  divine  things  and  strict  exercise  of  devotion, 
with  the  practical  care  of  her  household.  If  she 
was  active  in  her  house,  she  seemed  to  know  noth- 
ing of  the  exercises  of  religion;  if  she  occupied 
herself  with  God  and  his  worship,  she  seemed  to 
be  a  stranger  to  every  earthly  occupation  ;  she  was 
whole  in  everything.  Experiences  had  instilled 
into  her  unbounded  confidence  in  the  effects  of 
believing  prayer;  therefore  she  was  most  diligent 
in  supplications,  and  by  prayer  overcame  even  the 
deepest  feelings  of  grief  over  her  own  and  others' 
sufferings.  She  had  by  this  means  attained  such 
control  over  her  spirit  that  in  every  sorrow  she  en- 
countered she  never  uttered  a  plaintive  tone  before 
she  had  thanked  God." 

Gregory's  education  with  Basil  has  already  been 
described.  Like  his  friend,  after  he  had  prepared 
himself  for  the  highest  honors  the  world  had  for 
learning,  talent,  and  family  influence  to  aid,  he 
turned  his  back  upon  all  and  joined  his  olr'  com- 


1 82  The  Church  of  the  Father's. 

rade  in  the  wooded  hills  of  Pontus.  He  spent  a 
happy  period  here,  which  afterwards,  in  the  height 
of  power  and  amid  storm}^  scenes  of  controversy, 
he  sighed  for  with  a  romantic  and  tender  regret. 
"Who  will  transport  m.e,"  he  cries,  "back  to 
those  former  days  in  which  I  reveled  with  thee  in 
privations  ?  For  voluntary  poverty  is,  after  all,  far 
more  honorable  than  enforced  enjoyment.  Who 
will  give  m.e  back  those  songs  and  vigils?  who 
those  risings  to  God  in  prayer,  that  unearthly,  in- 
corporeal life,  that  fellowship  and  that  spiritual 
harmony  of  brothers  raised  by  thee  to  a  godlike 
life?  who  the  ardent  searching  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  the  light  which,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  we  found  therein?" 

Extremely  against  his  mind  he  was  ordained 
presbyter  by  his  aged  and  infirm  father,  and,  by 
the  desire  of  the  people,  was  appointed  over  his 
father's  congregation  at  Nazianzum.  This  was 
about  Christmas,  361 ;  he  did  not  preach  his  first 
sermon,  however,  until  Easter  the  following  year, 
for  he  fled  from  the  responsibility  and  the  care. 
In  370?  Basil,  who  had  just  been  made  metropoli- 
tan bishop  of  all  Cappadocia,  appointed  Greg- 
ory to  Sosima,  an  insignificant  and  dreary  out- 
of-the-way  village.  Gregory  resented  such  treat- 
ment with  indignation.  It  was  a  severe  trial  to 
their  lifelong  and  well-cemented  friendship.  Basil 
was  certainly  culpable.  He  made  the  appointment 
solely  in  his  own  interests.  The  eminent  abilities 
of  Gregory,  if    not  fidelity  in  friendship,  should 


Great  Men  of  i he  East.  183 

have  won  for  him  a  more  suitable  field  of  labor. 
The  unkindness  was  never  forgotten  by  Gregory, 
and  the  wound  to  his  heart  was  never  healed. 

Honor,  however,  and  a  great  career  could  not 
be  denied  him,  for  he  was  worthy.  In  379,  the 
year  of  Basil's  death,  he  was  called  to  take  charge 
of  the  faithful  in  Constantinople,  the  capital  of  the 
empire.  The  city  at  this  time  was  almost  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  various  kindred  heretical  parties, 
called,  after  their  leaders,  Eunomians,  Macedo- 
nians, Apollinarians,  and  Novatians.  Arianism, 
the  mother  of  most  of  the  heresies  of  this  century, 
was  strongly  intrenched  in  all  the  larger  church- 
es. Gregory  began  in  a  little  chapel,  a  room  in  a 
friend's  private  house,  which  he  fitted  up  and 
christened  "Anastasia,"  for  its  name  should  com- 
memorate the  "rising  again"  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  It  was  in  this  little  "Church  of  the  Resur- 
rection "  he  preached  the  famous  sermons  which 
gave  him  the  enduring  title  of  the  "Theologian," 
and  placed  him  in  the  highest  rank  for  oratory. 
Attracted  by  his  fame,  Jerome,  on  his  way  from 
the  Syrian  monks  to  the  West,  stopped  at  Con- 
stantinople to  hear  him  preach  and  to  place  him- 
self under  his  instruction. 

Trouble,  however,  could  not  let  alone  so  great 
a  preacher  of  the  gospel.  First,  the  fashionable 
and  folly-loving  classes  of  the  capital  could  not 
endure  his  rebukes,  although  they  enjoyed,  and 
yet  feared,  the  charm  and  power  of  his  eloquence. 
Secondly,  an   impostor  won  his  confidence,  and, 


184  The  Church  of  the  Feathers. 

during  an  illness  of  Gregory,  got  himself  secretly 
installed  by  night  in  his  church — a  strange  inci- 
dent revealing  the  times.  The  indignant  people, 
on  discovering  what  had  happened,  drove  the  in- 
terloper and  his  friends  out  of  the  city. 

When  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  an  adherent  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  came  to  Constantinople  in  380 
he  expelled  the  Arians  and  gave  the  cathedral 
of  St.  Sophia  into  the  hands  of  Gregory.  Now 
the  legality  of  Gregory's  transference  out  of  Cap- 
padocia  to  another  see  was  raised  in  question. 
When  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  Ecumen- 
ical Council  that  assembled  in  Constantinople  the 
following  year,  Gregory,  to  escape  trouble,  re- 
signed and  retired  to  his  old  home  in  Cappadocia. 
"His  life,"  says  Dr.  Schaff,  *'with  its  alterna- 
tions of  high  station,  monastic  seclusion,  love  of 
severe  studies,  enthusiasm  for  poetr\%  nature,  and 
friendship,  possesses  a  romantic  charm." 

His  passion  for  the  austerities  of  the  monastic 
life  was  equal  to  that  of  his  friends,  Basil  and 
Gregory  of  Nyssa.  "His  food  was  bread  and 
salt,  his  drink  water,  his  bed  the  bare  ground, 
his  garment  of  coarse,  rough  cloth.  Labor  filled 
the  day;  praying,  singing,  and  holy  contempla- 
tion a  greater  part  of  the  night.  .  .  .  Silence 
and  quiet  meditation  were  law  and  pleasure  to 
him." 

The  estimate  which  one  so  eminent  in  the  min- 
istry, "the  art  of  arts,"  as  he  characterized  it,  set 
upon  its  work    is   well  worth  pondering.      In   his 


Great  Men  of  the  East.  185 

famous  *' Defense  of  his  Flight  to  Pontus"  he 
writes:  ''The  scope  of  our  art  is  to  provide  the 
soul  with  wings,  to  rescue  it  from  the  world 
and  give  it  to  God,  and  to  watch  over  that  which 
is  in  his  image,  if  it  abides;  to  take  it  by  the  hand, 
if  it  is  in  danger;  to  restore  it,  if  ruined;  to  make 
Christ  dwell  m  the  heart  by  the  Spirit;  and,  in 
short,  to  deify  and  bestow  heavenly  bliss  upon  one 
who  belongs  to  the  heavenly  host." 

3.  Gregory  of  Nyssa. 

The  third  of  the  *' great  Cappadocians"  was  not 
third  in  point  of  abilities,  character,  or  service, 
but  only  of  time,  being  some  five  and  six  years 
the  junior  respectively  of  his  brother  Basil  and 
his  friend  Gregory.  His  education  was  wholly 
conducted  by  his  older  brother.  In  the  monas- 
tery with  him  they  studied  together  above  all  else 
the  works  of  Origen,  from  whose  writings  they 
made  a  collection  of  beautiful  passages  which  they 
called  ''Philocaha."  The  influence  of  Origen  up- 
on all  the  three  Cappadocians  was  very  marked; 
upon  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  the  greatest  of  the  three 
in  speculative  thought,  it  was  most  marked. 
Through  them,  possessing  as  they  did  the  ancient 
Greek  genius  and  learning,  the  Alexandrian  Greek 
theology  perpetuated  and  extended  itself. 

The  distinction  of  this  theologian  consists  in 
his  having  been  "the  first  who  sought  to  estab- 
lish by  rational  considerations  the  whole  complex 
of  orthodox  doctrines."     In  aim,  therefore,  as  in 


1 86  The  CJmrcJi  of  the  Fathers. 

particular  views,  he  followed  the  great  Alexan- 
drian, with  abilities  that  specially  fitted  him  for 
the  task.  Some  features  of  his  theology  deserve 
particular  attention.  His  doctrine  of  evil  was  Ori- 
gen's,  namely,  that  it  is  a  defect  or  privation.  It 
is  not  an  existence,  a  reality,  but  an  absence  ot 
reality;  for  all  true  being  is  virtuous  and  beau- 
tiful. The  beauty  of  the  Supreme  Being  pene- 
trates all  things,  and  the  human  mind  is  its  chief 
expression — its  mirror.  God  is  not  the  author  of 
evil,  for  evil,  being  a  nonentity,  has  no  author: 
it  is  a  divinely  permitted  condition,  for  he  "gave 
scope  to  evil  for  a  nobler  end."  The  freedom  of 
the  will,  he  taught  with  Origen  and  the  Greeks 
generally,  is  indestructible;  therefore,  also,  that  a 
universal  restoration  is  always  possible.  And  in 
this  even  the  fallen  angels  are  included.  His  idea 
of  salvation  is  strikingly  expressed.  "The  soul," 
he  says,  "is  a  cord  drawm  out  of  mud;  God 
draws  to  himself  what  is  his  own."  The  human 
spirit  is  "an  influx  of  the  divine  inbreathing." 

Origen's  theory  of  Christ's  death  as  a  ransom 
paid  to  the  devil  for  lost  humanity — a  ransom 
which  justice  to  the  evil  one  demanded — is  also 
taught  by  Gregory.  It  should  not  be  inferred 
from  this  borrowing  of  ideas,  or  receiving  of  sug- 
gestions, from  a  great  thinker  going  before,  that 
he  was  not  original;  for  original  and  profound  he 
was  in  the  use  he  made  of  the  views  he  accepted. 
Every  doctrine  in  his  mind  assumed  new  meaning 
and  fresh  and  lasting  beauty.      He  is  great  b}^  virtue 


Great  Men  of  the  East.  187 

of  a  single  thought,  /.  e.,  that  of  bringing  philos- 
ophy into  union  with  religion,  and  thereby  creat- 
ing a  theology.  With  Clement  of  Alexandria  this 
thought  was  a  mere  instinct;  Origen  gave  it  con- 
sciousness;  Gregory  gave  it  existence  in  reality. 

Of  a  kindlier  and  finer  spirit  than  his  brother 
Basil,  Gregory  everywhere  bears  the  reader  into 
the  presence  of  the  archetypal  beauty — the  divine 
meaning  of  the  soul  and  of  the  universe.  He  is 
charmed  by  the  loveliness  of  natural  scenes,  and 
writes  of  them  with  tender  and  sweet  sadness  and 
with  longing  for  the  deeper  things  of  the  Eternal 
Spirit.  '*When,"  he  says,  *'I  see  every  rocky 
ridge,  every  valley,  every  plain,  covered  with  new- 
grown  grass;  and  then  the  variegated  beauty  of 
the  trees,  and  at  my  feet  the  lilies  doubly  enriched 
by  nature  with  sweet  odors  and  gorgeous  colors; 
when  I  view  in  the  distance  the  sea,  to  which  the 
changing  cloud  leads  out,  my  soul  is  seized  with 
sadness  which  is  not  without  delight.  And  when 
in  autumn  fruits  disappear,  leaves  fall,  boughs  stiff- 
en, stripped  of  their  beauteous  dress,  we  sink 
with  the  perpetual  and  regular  vicissitude  into 
the  harmony  of  wonder-working  nature.  He  who 
looks  through  this  with  the  thoughtful  eye  of  the 
soul  feels  the  littleness  of  man  in  the  greatness  of 
the  universe." 

And  again  on  Easter  morning  he  sings  a  hymn 
of  praise  to  the  Everlasting  Maker:  *' Everything 
praises  God  and  glorifies  him  with  unutterable 
tones;   for  everything  shall  thanks  be  offered  also 


1 88  The  Chiu'ch  of  ihc  Judhei's. 

to  God  by  me,  and  thus  shall  the  song  of  those 
creatures,  whose  song  of  praise  I  here  utter,  be 
also  ours.  .  .  .  Indeed,  it  is  now  the  spring- 
time of  the  world,  the  springtime  of  the  spirit, 
springtime  for  souls,  springtime  for  bodies,  a  visi- 
ble spring,  an  invisible  spring,  in  which  we  also 
shall  there  have  part,  if  we  here  be  rightly  trans- 
formed, and  enter  as  new  men  upon  a  new  life.'" 

The  aim  and  dominant  idea  of  his  life  are  ex- 
pressed in  words  true  yet  and  always  for  those 
who  have  learned  Christ  and  seek  the  riches 
of  his  grace  and  the  beauty  of  his  excellence. 
On  adopting  the  monastic  life  he  wrote:  "Blood, 
wealth,  and  splendor  we  should  leave  to  the  friends 
of  the  world;  the  Christian's  lineage  is  his  affinity 
with  the  Divine,  his  fatherland  is  virtue,  his  free- 
dom is  the  sonship  of  God." 

Shortly  after  Basil's  promotion  to  the  office  of 
archbishop,  in  order  to  strengthen  his  own  posi- 
tion, he  appointed  his  friend  Gregory  of  Nazian- 
zum,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  obscure  and  wretched 
town  of  Sosima.  About  the  same  time,  for  simi- 
lar reasons,  he  consecrated  his  brother  Gregory 
bishop  of  Nyssa,  also  a  small  and  unimportant  vil- 
lage. When  surprise  was  expressed  at  this,  he 
replied  that  the  place  should  receive  distinction 
from  the  man,  not  the  man  from  the  place;  an 
answer  w^hich  may  have  satisfied  himself,  but  not 
his  brother. 

His  honor  in  Church  history  consists  in  the 
strength  of  his  defense  of  the  Nicene   theology. 


Great  Men  of  the  East,  189 

He  was  acknowledged  in  the  Second  Ecumenical 
Council  as  *'a  pillar  of  the  Church,"  and  died,  in 
the  year  395,  the  most  regretted  hero  of  the  faith. 

4.  John  Chrysostom. 

So  famed  for  his  eloquence  was  the  great  preach- 
er and  expositor  who  was  christened  John  that  pos- 
terity has  known  him  almost  entirely  as  Chrysos- 
tom, the  *' Golden-mouth,"  or  as  *'John  Chrysos- 
tom." The  Greek  Church  reverences  him  not 
only  as  its  chief  pulpit  orator,  but  as  one  of  the 
small  number  sufficiently  eminent  in  the  several 
qualities  of  holiness,  orthodoxy,  and  learning  to 
be  called  "Doctor."  The  whole  Church  honors 
him  as  its  Demosthenes ;  and  more,  as  its  St.  John, 
who,  like  St.  John  the  Divine,  died  in  banishment 
true  to  the  faith.  His  career  exemplifies  what  was 
likely  to  befall  an  illustrious,  ardent,  and  heroic 
preacher  in  an  evil  age.  But  against  adversity, 
like  an  eagle  beating  up  against  the  storm,  he  rose 
to  greater  heights. 

He  was  born  in  347  at  Antioch,  where  the  dis- 
ciples were  first  called  ''  Christians."  His  father 
was  a  man  of  wealth  and  rank,  being  a  distin- 
guished officer  in  the  army.  His  mother,  An- 
thusa,  belongs  to  that  immortal  class  of  high-souled 
Christian  women  who  are  no  less  a  distinction  and 
an  honor  to  the  Church  than  her  famous  scholars 
and  preachers.  Left  at  the  age  of  twenty  a  wid- 
ow with  a  daughter  (her  firstborn)  and  a  son,  she 
vowed  herself  to  perpetual  widowhood,  which  she 


190  The  Church  of  the  leathers. 

believed  was  right,  in  contrast  to  the  heathen  cus- 
tom of  repeated  marriages.  Her  nobleness  of 
character  evoked  from  the  celebrated  pagan 
teacher  Libanius  that  memorable  exclamation: 
"Bless  me!  what  wonderful  women  there  are 
among  the  Christians!  " 

John  received  instruction  from  the  best  teach- 
ers in  that  city  of  culture.  Libanius,  the  teacher 
of  Basil  and  Gregory  Nazianzen,  was  at  the  head 
of  the  most  famous  school,  which  the  young  Gold- 
en-mouth attended.  When,  on  his  deathbed,  the 
master  was  asked  whom  he  would  have  as  his  suc- 
cessor, he  answered:  "John — if  only  the  Christians 
had  not  stolen  him." 

He  desired  to  follow  the  law,  but  his  mother 
saved  him  for  the  gospel.  Her  influence,  which 
was  the  power  of  tender  love,  is  exemplified  in  an- 
other crisis  of  his  life.  Straightway  after  accept- 
ing Christianity  he  wished  to  follow  the  example 
of  the  most  pious  and  ardent  of  his  age,  and  find 
a  retreat  for  ascetic  living  in  the  desert.  His 
mother  with  tears  and  the  tenderest  words  dis- 
suaded him.  Taking  him  by  the  hand  and  lead- 
ing him  to  the  chamber  where  she  had  given  him 
birth,  and  making  him  to  sit  down  beside  her  upon 
the  bed,  she  poured  out  the  grief  and  heartbreak 
which  his  purpose  was  causing  her.  She  told 
of  her  sorrows  of  widowhood  and  of  her  cares  in 
managing  the  estate,  and  of  her  love  and  pride  and 
hope,  all  centering  in  her  only  son.  "Think  not," 
she  continued,  "I  would  reproach  you  with  these 


Great  Men  of  the  East,  191 

things.  I  have  but  one  favor  to  entreat — make  me 
not  a  second  time  a  widow ;  awaken  not  again  my 
slumbering  sorrows.  Wait,  at  least,  for  my  death ; 
perhaps  I  shall  depart  erelong.  When  you  have 
laid  me  into  the  earth,  and  reunited  my  bones  to 
those  of  your  father,  then  travel  wherever  thou 
wilt,  even  beyond  the  sea;  but,  as  long  as  I  live, 
endure  to  dwell  in  my  house,  and  offend  not  God 
by  afflicting  your  mother,  who  is  at  least  blameless 
toward  thee." 

Thus  a  wise  and  true  mother's  eloquence,  ten- 
derness, and  nobility  were  breathed  into  the  soul 
of  her  son,  the  future  Golden-mouth.  Not  until 
her  death,  which  came  early,  did  he  leave  his 
home  to  follow  the  monastic  impulse  which  was 
so  mighty  in  him  and  in  all  the  devout  spirits  of 
that  age.  He  evaded  being  made  bishop  by  put- 
ting forward  his  friend  Basil,  and  thereupon 
went  into  solitude  in  the  mountains  near  Antioch. 
Here  for  six  years  he  spent  his  time  in  study  and 
writing  and  in  such  austere  fasting  and  vigils  as 
undermined  his  health  and  endangered  his  life. 
For  the  next  sixteen  years  he  labored,  both  preach- 
ing and  writing,  at  Antioch.  His  fame  spread,  and 
in  397  he  was  made  patriarch  of  Constantinople. 
It  was  here  he  rose  by  his  eloquence  to  the  height 
of  his  power  and  reputation  as  the  master  of  as- 
semblies. His  eventful  career  exemplifies  the  life 
of  the  monk-preacher.  Its  vicissitudes  indicate 
the  warring  conditions  of  the  time. 

Chrysostom's  moral  requirements  were  too  se- 


192  The  Church  of  the  Fathei'S. 

vere  to  be  endured  by  the  luxury-loving  court  01 
Constantinople,  and  his  impetuous  eloquence  may 
have  carried  him  beyond  the  mark  of  prudence. 
He  was  driven  into  banishment  across  the  Bos- 
phorus,  whence  he  wrote:  *'When  I  was  driven 
from  the  city,  I  felt  no  anxiety,  but  said  to  my- 
self. If  the  empress  wishes  to  banish  me,  let  her 
do  so;  *the  earth  is  the  Lord's.'  If  she  wants  to 
have  me  sawn  asunder,  I  have  Isaiah  for  an  ex- 
ample. If  she  wants  me  to  be  drowned  in  the 
ocean,  I  think  of  Jonah.  If  I  am  to  be  thrown 
into  the  fire,  the  three  men  in  the  furnace  suffered 
the  same.  If  cast  before  wild  beasts,  I  remember 
Daniel  in  the  lions'  den.  If  she  wants  me  to  be 
stoned,  I  have  before  me  Stephen,  the  first  martyr. 
If  she  demands  my  head,  let  her  do  so;  John  the 
Baptist  shines  before  me.  Naked  I  came  from 
my  mother's  womb,  naked  I  shall  leave  this  world. 
Paul  reminds  me,  'If  I  still  pleased  men,  I  would 
not  be  the  servant  of  Christ.'  " 

He  was  soon  recalled,  for  an  earthquake  oc- 
curred the  following  day,  and  this  was  interpreted 
as  a  sure  sign  of  God's  displeasure.  Hence  the 
superstitious  court  and  people  clamored  for  the 
great  preacher  of  righteousness  to  return. 

Again  the  thunders  of  his  eloquent  denuncia- 
tians  of  Queen  Eudoxia's  court  luxury,  intrigue, 
and  corruption  bring  him  into  trouble.  The  im- 
perial soldiers  enter  the  church  of  St.  Sophia 
where  he  is  preaching:  the  clergy  are  dragged 
forth  to  prison;    many  worshipers  are  wounded, 


Great  Men  of  the  East.  193 

women  flee  in  dismay,  the  holy  sacraments  are 
scattered  and  stained  with  blood,  the  church  is 
plundered,  and  again  Chrysostom  is  driven  into 
exile.  But  in  banishment  his  influence  upon  the 
mind  of  Christendom  was  scarcely  diminished: 
"The  Eastern  Church  was  almost  governed  from 
the  solitary  cell  of  Chrysostom.  He  corresponded 
in  all  quarters ;  women  of  rank  and  opulence  sought 
his  solitude  in  disguise.  The  bishops  of  many  dis- 
tant sees  sent  him  assistance,  and  coveted  his  ad- 
vice." 

This  was  the  first  conflict  between  the  temporal 
and  the  spiritual  forces  of  Christianit}^:  it  was  a 
struggle  for  supremacy  in  which  the  victory  re- 
mained with  the  State,  which  was  at  least  nominal- 
ly Christian,  as  against  the  Church. 

It  is  perhaps  impossible  for  us  at  this  time  to  con- 
ceive the  extravagance  of  luxury  and  the  enormity 
of  sin  practiced  even  by  those  who  counted  them- 
selves Christians  in  the  Constantinople  of  that 
time.  We  are  told  what  it  was  by  the  burning  elo- 
quence of  Gregory  and  Chrysostom,  but  one  knows 
not  how  much  in  their  depicture  was  due  to  love 
of  rhetorical  splendor  and  to  an  exaggeration  of 
the  virtue  of  ascetic  living.  Sublime  men  were 
they  both  in  thinking  and  in  living;  and  evil  was 
the  world  in  which  they  labored  for  righteousness. 
Their  opposition  to  the  iniquitous  world  of  that  age 
could  not  but  be  burning  even  to  fierceness. 

Selections  from  the  numerous  w^ritings  of  Chrys- 
ostom fill  six  of  the  large  volumes  in  the  "  Nicene 
13 


194  The  Church  of  the  leathers, 

and  Post-Nicene  Fathers."     How,  with  so  much 
to  gather  from,  can  an  idea  of  his  eloquence — so 
far  as  it  remains  on  the  written  page — be  given? 
To  hmit  ourselves  to  a  brief  typical  discourse  will 
perhaps  be  best.     Such  a  discourse  is  offered  in 
the  two  letters   constituting  his  ''Exhortation   to 
Theodore  after  his  Fall."    Theodore,  his  youthful 
friend,  was  the  distinguished  bishop  of  Mopsuestia 
and  one  of  the  greatest  theologians  in  that  age  and 
one  of  the  noblest  men.     But  he  had  abandoned 
the  monastic  life,  and,  like  Luther  in  a  later  age, 
had  dared  to  marry.     In  the   eyes  of   the   great 
apostle  of  ascetic  life,  this  was  a  fall  like  Adam's, 
whereby  Eden  was  lost.     **  It  is  not,"  he  writes, 
"  the  overthrow  of  a  city  which  I  mourn,  nor  the 
captivity  of  wicked  men,  but  the  desolation  of  a 
sacred  soul,  the  destruction  and  effacement  of  a 
Christ-bearing  temple.     For  would  not  any  one, 
who  knew  in  the  days  of  its  glory  that  well-ordered 
mind  of  thine  which  the  devil  has  now  set  on  fire, 
groan — imitating  the  lamentations  of  the  prophet 
— when  he  hears  that  barbarian  hands  have  defiled 
the  holy  of  holies,  and  have  set  fire  to  all  things 
and  burned  them  up,  the  cherubim,  the  ark,  the 
mercy  seat,  the  tables  of  stone,  the  golden  pot? 
For  this  calamity  is  bitterer,  yea  bitterer  than  that, 
in  proportion  as  the  pledges  deposited  in  thy  soul 
were  far  more  precious  than  those.     This  temple 
is  holier  than  that;   for  it  glistened  not  with  gold 
and  silver,  but  with  the  grace  of  the  Spirit,  and  in 
place  of  the  ark  and  the  cherubim,  it  had  Christ 


Great  Men  of  the  East.  195 

and  his  Father  and  the  Paraclete  seated  within. 
But  now  all  is  changed,  and  the  temple  is  desolate 
and  bare  of  its  former  beauty  and  comeliness,  un- 
adorned with  its  divine  and  unspeakable  adorn- 
ments, destitute  of  all  security  and  protection;  it 
has  neither  door  nor  bolt,  and  laid  open  to  all  man- 
ner of  soul-destroying  and  shameful  thoughts; 
and  if  the  thought  of  arrogance  or  fornication  or 
avarice,  or  any  more  accursed  than  these,  wish  to 
enter  in,  there  is  no  one  to  hinder  them;  whereas 
formerly,  even  as  the  heaven  is  inaccessible  to  all 
these,  so  also  was  the  purity  of  the  soul." 

Substitute  for  this  offense  a  real  sin,  as  great  to 
our  thought  as  this  was  to  Chrysostom's,  and  these 
words,  so  glowing  wdth  the  ardor  of  regret  and 
love,  make  an  appeal  always  appropriate  to  a  fall- 
en soul.  Then  his  exhortation  to  rise  again  and 
renew  his  former  vows:  "To  have  fallen  is  not  a 
grievous  thing,  but  to  remain  prostrate  after  fall- 
ing, and  not  to  get  up  again;  and,  playing  the 
coward  and  the  sluggard,  to  conceal  feebleness  of 
moral  purpose  under  the  reasoning  of  despair." 
Again,  with  a  wealth  of  illustration  which  must 
have  been  one  of  the  secrets  of  his  power  in  the 
pulpit,  as  it  is  a  perpetual  beauty  in  his  pages,  he 
renews  the  exhortation  to  begin  the  struggle  once 
more:  "There  is  nothing  strange,  beloved  Theo- 
dore, in  a  wrestler  falling,  but  in  his  remaining  in 
a  fallen  condition;  neither  is  it  a  grievous  thing 
for  a  warrior  to  be  wounded,  but  to  despair  after 
the    blow   has  been    struck,   and    to    neglect   the 


196  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

wound.  No  merchant,  having  once  suffered 
shipwreck  and  lost  his  freight,  desists  from  sail- 
ing, but  again  crosses  the  sea  and  the  billows  and 
broad  ocean,  and  recovers  his  former  wealth. 
We  see  athletes  also  who  after  many  falls  have 
gained  the  wreath  of  victory;  and  often,  before 
now,  a  soldier  who  has  once  run  away  has  turned 
out  a  champion  and  prevailed  over  the  enemy. 
Many  also  of  those  who  have  denied  Christ,  owing 
to  the  pressure  of  torture,  have  fought  again,  and 
departed  at  last  with  the  crown  of  martyrdom  upon 
their  brows." 

Passages  depicting  the  luxurious  manner  of  life 
then  common,  and  decrying  it  all  as  vanity, 
abound.  Two  will  illustrate  his  eloquence  and 
throw  light  upon  the  age:  "Have  you  not  seen 
those  who  have  died  in  the  midst  of  luxury  and 
drunkenness  and  sport,  and  all  the  other  folly  of 
this  life?  Where  are  they  now  who  used  to  strut 
through  the  market  place  with  much  pomp  and 
a  crowd  of  attendants?  who  were  clothed  in  silk 
and  redolent  with  perfume,  and  kept  a  table  for 
their  parasites,  and  were  in  constant  attendance 
at  the  theater?  What  has  now  become  of  all  that 
parade  of  theirs?  It  is  all  gone — the  costly  splen- 
dor of  their  banquets,  the  throng  of  musicians, 
the  attention  of  flatterers,  the  loud  laughter,  the 
relaxation  of  spirit,  the  enervation  of  mind,  the 
voluptuous,  abandoned,  extravagant  manner  of 
life;  it  has  all  come  to  an  end.  Where  now  have 
all  these  things  taken  their  flight?     What  has  be- 


Great  Men  of  the  East.  19^ 

come  of  the  body  which  enjoyed  so  much  atten- 
tion and  cleanhness?  Go  thy  way  to  the  coffin, 
behold  the  dust,  the  ashes,  the  worms;  behold  the 
loathsomeness  of  the  place,  and  groan  bitterly. 
And  would  that  the  penalty  were  limited  to  the 
ashes !  But  now  transfer  thy  thought  from  the 
coffin  and  these  worms  to  that  undying  worm,  to 
the  fire  unquenchable,  to  the  gnashing  of  teeth,  to 
the  outer  darkness,  to  affliction  and  straitness; 
to  the  parable  of  Lazarus  and  the  rich  man,  who, 
although  the  owner  of  so  much  wealth  and  clothed 
in  purple,  could  not  become  the  owner  of  even  a 
drop  of  water — and  this  when  he  was  placed  in  a 
condition  of  such  great  necessity.  The  things  of 
this  world  are  in  their  nature  nowise  better  than 
dreams.  For  just  as  those  who  work  in  the  mines, 
or  suffer  some  other  kind  of  punishment  more  se- 
vere than  this,  when  they  have  fallen  asleep  owing 
to  their  m.any  weary  toils  and  the  extreme  bitter- 
ness of  their  life,  and  in  their  dreams  see  them- 
selves living  in  luxury  and  prosperity,  are  in  no 
wise  grateful  to  their  dreams  after  they  have 
awaked,  even  so  that  rich  man,  having  become  rich 
in  this  present  life,  as  it  were  in  a  dream,  after  his 
departure  hence  was  punished  with  that  bitter 
punishment."  Again:  **  Which  of  all  things  in  the 
world  seems  to  you  most  desirable  and  enviable? 
No  doubt  you  will  say  government,  and  wealth,  and 
public  reputation.  And  yet  what  is  more  wretched 
than  these  things  when  they  are  compared  with  the 
liberty  of  Christians?     For  the  ruler  is  subjected 


193  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

to  the  wrath  of  the  populace  and  to  the  irrational 
impulses  of  the  multitude,  and  to  the  fear  of  higher 
rulers,  and  to  anxieties  on  behalf  of  those  who  are 
ruled,  and  the  ruler  of  yesterday  becomes  a  pri- 
vate citizen  of  to-day;  for  this  present  life  in  no 
wise  differs  from  a  stage,  but  just  as  there  one 
man  fills  the  position  of  a  king,  a  second  of  a  gen- 
eral, and  a  third  of  a  soldier,  but  when  evening 
has  come  on  the  king  is  no  king,  the  ruler  no  ru- 
ler, and  the  general  no  general,  even  so  also  in 
that  day  each  man  will  receive  his  due  reward, 
not  according  to  the  outward  part  which  he  has 
pla3^ed,  but  according  to  his  works." 

Chrysostom's  death  occurred  A.D.  407,  in  ex- 
ile. His  own  Socratic  words,  spoken  to  console 
another,  consoled  his  own  spirit:  *'No  one  is  re- 
ally injured  save  by  himself." 


GREAT  MEN  OF  THE  WEST. 


"The  world  is  upheld  by  the  veracity  of  good  men;  they 
make  the  earth  wholesome.  They  who  lived  with  them  found 
life  glad  and  nutritious.  Life  is  sweet  and  tolerable  only  in 
our  belief  in  such  society;  and  actually,  or  ideally,  we  manage 
to  live  with  superiors.  .  .  .  The  search  after  the  great  is 
the  dream  of  youth,  and  the  most  serious  occupation  of  man- 
hood. We  travel  into  foreign  parts  to  find  his  works — if  possi- 
ble, to  get  a  glimpse  of  him;  but  we  are  put  off  with  fortune 
instead.  You  say  the  English  are  practical;  the  Germans  are 
hospitable;  in  Valencia  the  climate  is  delicious;  and  in  the 
hills  of  Sacramento  there  is  gold  for  the  gathering.  Yes;  but 
I  do  not  travel  to  find  comfortable,  rich,  or  hospitable  people, 
or  clear  sky,  or  ingots  that  cost  too  much.  But  if  there  were 
any  magnet  that  would  point  to  the  countries  and  houses  where 
are  the  persons  who  are  intrinsically  rich  and  powerful,  I 
would  sell  all  and  buy  it,  and  put  myself  on  the  road  to-day. 
.  .  .  Men  are  helpful  through  the  intellect  and  the  affec- 
tions. Other  help  I  find  a  false  appearance.  If  you  affect  to 
give  me  bread  and  fire,  I  perceive  that  I  pay  for  it  the  full 
price,  and  at  last  it  leaves  me  as  it  found  me,  neither  better  nor 
worse;  but  all  mental  and  moral  force  is  a  positive  good.  It 
goes  out  from  you,  whether  you  will  or  not,  and  profits  me 
whom  you  never  thought  of.  I  cannot  even  hear  of  personal 
vigor  of  any  kind,  great  power  of  performance,  without  fresh 
resolution.  We  are  emulous  of  all  man  can  do." — Emerson. 
(200) 


CHAPTER  X. 

GREAT  MEN  OF  THE  WEST. 

"The  emperor  has  his  palaces,  ]et  him  leave  the  churches  to 
the  bishop." — Ambrose^s  '■^Reply  to  Justina.''^ 

I.  Ambrose. 
Ambrose,  Jerome,  and  Augustine  are  the  men 
of  light  and  leading  in  the  West  at  this  time.  They 
belong  to  this  same  half-century,  with  the  great 
men  of  the  East  just  spoken  of,  but  the  contrast  in 
which  they  stand  to  their  great  Eastern  contempo- 
raries could  hardly  be  stronger.  Rendered  alike 
in  spirit  by  the  same  faith  and  moral  purpose,  they 
were  made  diverse  by  race  and  civilization.  When 
Chrysostom  and  Ambrose,  for  example,  are  viewed 
together,  we  discern  how  great  is  the  contrast: 
Chrysostom  is  the  Demosthenes  of  the  early 
Church;  Ambrose  is  the  Cagsar.  Son  of  the  pre- 
torian  prefect  of  Gaul,  trained  at  Rome  for  gov- 
erning, appointed  to  departments  in  Spain,  Am- 
brose was  a  Roman  of  the  antique  consular  or 
senatorial  type.  He  was  a  Roman  statesman.  On 
his  leaving  the  city  to  assume  the  duties  of  his  of- 
fice, he  was  counseled  by  a  shrewd  friend,  pro- 
phetically it  would  seem,  **Rule  your  province 
not  as  judge,  but  as  bishop."  And  so  it  came  to 
pass  that  he  did,  and,  by  so  coming  to  pass,  the 
sacerdotal  power  of  the  Church  was  permanently 

(201) 


:202  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

elevated  and  confirmed.  Ambrose,  the  Roman 
statesman,  ruling  his  province  as  bishop  of  Milan, 
left  the  impress  of  his  imperial  character  upon  the 
Church,  and  raised  and  strengthened  her  author- 
ity in  the  government  of  the  empire. 

''Ambrose  was  the  spiritual  ancestor  of  the  Hil- 
debrands  and  the  Innocents."  To  trace  his  career 
will  be  to  discover  the  conditions  of  the  times,  the 
trend  of  events,  and  especially  the  growth  of  sacer- 
dotal power. 

On  occasion  of  a  vacancy  in  the  see  of  Milan, 
the  two  parties,  Arian  and  Athanasian,  came  into 
violent  conflict  in  the  election  of  a  bishop.  Am- 
brose, in  his  character  as  civil  administrator,  ap- 
peared upon  the  scene  to  allay  the  tumult,  and 
spoke  in  such  a  Christian  spirit  and  with  such  wis- 
dom that  all  the  people  cried  out,  "Ambrose,  be 
bishop!  Ambrose,  be  bishop!"  The  emperor 
approved,  and  the  ardor  of  the  people  almost 
compelled  his  acceptance  of  the  ecclesiastical  post. 
This  was  A.D.  374,  when  Ambrose  was  about 
thirty-four  years  of  age. 

At  once  he  cast  off  his  robes  of  splendor,  and 
became  not  only  an  eloquent  advocate  but  a  rigid 
pacticer  of  the  severest  austerity  of  life.  He  be- 
stowed his  large  property  upon  the  Church,  and 
lived  in  poverty.  Already  liberally  educated,  for 
he  was  a  master  of  Greek  and  had  pursued  legal 
studies  at  Rome,  he  now  devoted  himself  assidu- 
ously to  the  study  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  Greek 
Fathers.     Basil,  above  all  others,  was  his  chosen 


Great  Men  of  the  West.  203. 

master,  though  Origen  exerted  an  influence  scarce- 
ly less  powerful.  He  was  an  effective  preacher. 
Mothers,  it  is  related,  shut  up  their  daughters  to 
prevent  their  being  induced  by  his  persuasive  elo- 
quence to  assume  the  vows  of  virginity. 

In  the  assertion  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  power 
of  the  Church  consists  the  chief  distinction  of  this 
Roman,  who  was  born  to  rule,  whether  as  prefect 
or  priest.  From  the  first  on  the  side  of  justice  and 
humanity  and  orthodoxy,  he  set  himself  face  to  face 
against  the  emperors  of  his  time. 

Maximus,  who  had  murdered  his  sovereign  and 
assumed  the  purple,  he  refused  to  admit  to  com- 
munion, and  prevented  from  invading  Italy.  To 
Valentinian  II.,  when  it  was  proposed  by  the  pa- 
gan prefect  of  Rome  to  restore  the  Altar  of  Victo- 
ry to  its  former  place  in  the  senate  house,  he  ad- 
dressed two  epistles  which  defeated  that  heathen- 
ish plan.  The  Empress  Justina,  who  was  an  Arian, 
demanded  a  church  in  Milan  for  those  of  that  faith, 
and  against  the  obstinate  bishop  sent  an  armed 
force  to  compel  his  submission.  *'A  bishop  can- 
not alienate  that  which  is  dedicated  to  God,"  was 
his  firm  answer.  While  he  is  at  service  in  his 
church  the  soldiers  invade  the  sacred  precincts; 
but,  rude  and  armed  as  they  are,  and  acting  under 
imperial  orders,  they  fall  upon  their  knees  and  as- 
sure the  good  bishop  that  they  came  to  pray,  not 
to  fight.     This  is  a  picture  of  the  times. 

But  Ambrose  encountered  a  stronger  opponent 
than  the  Valentinians,  Maximus,  or  Justina.     The 


204  ^^^^  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

great  Theodosius  was  now  emperor,  and  an  early 
struggle  between  the  spiritual  and  the  temporal 
powers,  the  Church  and  the  State,  w^as  fought  out 
between  these  two  masterspirits  of  Christendom. 

Ambrose  and  the  power  he  represented  tri- 
umphed, and  gave  a  lasting  example  to  the  eccle- 
siastics of  succeeding  ages.  The  contest  was 
brought  on  by  the  following  circumstance.  A  syn- 
agogue of  the  Jews  at  Callinicum  had  been  burned 
by  the  Christians,  at  the  instigation  of  their  bish- 
op. Theodosius,  just  and  magnanimous  ruler  that 
he  was,  commanded  the  Christians  to  restore  the 
synagogue.  At  this  juncture  Ambrose,  bishop  of 
a  see  remote  from  the  difficulty,  interposes,  de- 
fends and  justifies  the  incendiarism  of  the  Chris- 
tians, and  remonstrates  with  the  emperor  against 
requiring  such  an  act  of  apostasy  as  the  rebuilding 
of  a  synagogue  would  be. 

This  is  another  picture  of  the  times,  and  a  reve- 
lation of  the  character  of  the  most  eminent  church- 
men. Theodosius  does  not  at  first  yield.  Am- 
brose, acting  as  the  champion  of  all  Christendom, 
and  embodying  in  himself  the  entire  sacerdotal 
power  of  the  Church,  publicly  renews  his  remon- 
strance, and  at  last  triumphs.  This  was  his  asser- 
tion of  the  fundamental  maxim  of  his  Christianity, 
that  "the  altar  is  superior  to  the  throne."  The 
imperial  power  was  to  be  held  subordinate  to  the 
ecclesiastical  power.  One  sentence  of  Ambrose 
expresses  his  whole  theor}':  "The  emperor  is  of 
the  Church,  but  not  above  the  Church." 


Great  Men  of  the  West.  205 

Another  contest  arose,  with  a  far  more  humili- 
ating defeat  of  the  imperial  power.  It  is  sad  to 
relate  the  circumstances  which  led  to  this  struggle 
— it  is  so  foul  a  blot  upon  the  illustrious  character 
of  Theodosius,  else  worthily  called  the  Great. 
The  only  vindication  we  can  find  is  such  as  we 
accord  to  other  eminent  and  generally  wise  and 
gracious  rulers  of  former  times,  namely,  they 
were  not  wholly  free  from  the  instincts  and  pas- 
sions of  barbarism.  Theodosius,  because  of  the 
slaying  of  some  of  his  officers  in  a  sedition  at  Thes- 
salonica,  and  because  his  own  representative  was 
treated  with  indignity,  had  the  inhabitants  of  that 
city,  when  assembled  in  the  circus  as  if  to  witness 
the  games,  surrounded  by  the  troops  and  indis- 
criminately put  to  the  sword — young  and  old,  men 
and  women,  guilty  and  innocent.  This  is  another 
picture  of  the  fourth  century.  The  sands  of  the 
arena  were  wet  with  the  blood  of  seven  thousand 
souls  in  one  terrible  carnage. 

The  bishop  of  Milan  wrote  to  the  emperor  of  his 
horror  at  such  an  atrocious  deed,  exhorted  him  to 
penitence,  pronounced  his  excommunication,  and 
promised  to  pray  in  his  behalf.  When  the  emper- 
or next  came  to  church  he  found  the  doors  closed 
against  him.  The  bishop  had  dared  to  execute 
his  purpose;  he  excluded  even  the  emperor — and 
such  an  emperor — from  the  sacred  service  !  The- 
odosius, after  eight  months,  entreated  to  be  admit- 
ted to  the  precincts  allotted  to  slaves  and  beggars. 
Even  this  was  refused  by  the  uncompromising,  un- 


2o6  The  Church  of  the  Feathers, 

relenting  bishop.  At  last  he  was  admitted  to  au- 
dience, and  was  granted  absolution  on  two  condi- 
tions; the  first  of  which  evinced  the  humane  in- 
stinct of  Ambrose,  namely,  that  capital  punish- 
ment should  not  be  executed  for  thirty  days  after 
sentence;  and  the  second  of  which  proved  his  de- 
termination to  show  the  spiritual  power  supreme, 
namely ,  that  the  emperor  should  do  public  penance. 
"  Stripped  of  his  imperial  ornaments,  prostrate  on 
the  pavement,  beating  his  breast,  tearing  his  hair, 
watering  the  ground  with  his  tears,  the  master  of 
the  Roman  empire,  the  conqueror  in  so  many  vic- 
tories, the  legislator  of  the  world,  at  length  received 
the  hard-wrung  absolution."  This  is  yet  another 
picture  of  the  times.  So  great  was  the  new  moral 
power  risen  on  the  ruins  of  that  power  which  ruled 
the  world. 

Ambrose,  in  this  contest,  was  on  the  side  of  out- 
raged humanity.  Indeed,  only  his  zeal  for  ortho- 
doxy and  the  common  spirit  of  intolerance  of  the 
times  against  every  form  of  heresy  ever  led  him  to 
be  otherwise  than  humane.  One  of  his  utterances, 
besides  showing  the  true  character  of  the  man  as 
great  and  good,  is  so  noble  as  to  be  worthy  of  re- 
membrance for  all  time.  He  is  speaking  of  the 
splendid  offerings  of  piety — the  ornaments,  treas- 
ures, and  costly  consecrated  vessels  of  the  Church 
— with  which  he  was  ransoming  captives  taken  in 
the  wars  of  the  times.  There  were  objections  of- 
fered. '*  The  Church  possesses  gold,"  he  replied, 
"  not  to  treasure  up,  but  to  distribute  for  the  wel- 


Great  AT  en  of  the  West.  207 

fare  and  happiness  of  men.  We  are  ransoming 
the  souls  of  men  from  eternal  perdition.  It  is  not 
merely  the  lives  of  men  and  the  honor  of  women 
which  are  endangered  in  captivity,  but  the  faith  of 
their  children.  The  blood  of  redemption  which 
has  gleamed  in  those  golden  cups  has  sanctified 
them  not  for  the  service  [sacrament]  alone,  but 
for  the  redemption  of  men." 

Ambrose  is  the  author  of  numerous  dogmatic 
and  ethical  works,  some  of  which  are  important 
as  marking  the  progress  of  doctrinal  thought  in 
the  West.  His  treatise  on  ''The  Duties  of  the 
Clergy"  is  his  chief  work  in  the  ethical  field, 
while  the  one  on  "The  Holy  Spirit"  is  the  most 
important  of  his  doctrinal  works.  He  died  A.D. 
397,  and  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  basilica  called  after 
his  own  name,  in  Milan,  on  Easter  morning.  This 
city  still  reverences  his  memory,  sings  his  hymns, 
and  uses  his  liturgy.  When  he  lay  dying,  the  no- 
bles came  and  besought  him  to  pray  for  longer 
life.  His  reply  was :  "I  have  not  so  lived  amongst 
you  as  to  be  ashamed  of  living,  and  I  do  not  fear 
to  die,  for  we  have  a  good  Lord." 

2.  Jerome. 

"You  walk  laden  with  gold;  jou  must  keep  out  of  the  rob- 
ber's way.  To  us  men  this  life  is  a  race  course:  we  contend 
here,  we  are  crowned  elsewhere.  No  man  can  lay  aside  fear 
while  serpents  and  scorpions  beset  his  path."— y6'ro?«e'5  ^'•Letter 
to  Eustochiinnr 

While  Ambrose  was  preaching  at  Milan  and  lay- 
ing the  law  down  to  emperors,  there  was  another 


2o8  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

equally  powerful  genius  rising  to  influence  in  an- 
other part  of  the  empire — one  who  was  destined  to 
be  accounted  with  Ambrose  one  of  the  three  great- 
est Latin  Fathers.     This  was  Jerome. 

Born  of  wealthy  Christian  parents  in  the  same 
year  with  Ambrose  (A.D.  340),  Jerome,  at  the 
age  of  thirty,  was  converted  from  a  licentious  life 
in  Rome,  and  with  all  his  classic  scholarship  be- 
came the  most  ardent  ascetic  Christian  of  the 
Western  Church.  After  his  conversion  he  sought 
the  regions  where  Christianity  was  practiced  with 
the  greatest  austerities,  namely,  the  provinces 
of  the  East.  For  eight  years  he  did  penance, 
with  groans  and  tears,  relieved  by  occasional 
spiritual  ecstasies,  as  a  monk  in  Syria.  He  sur- 
passed, if  possible,  the  most  famous  examples 
of  monkhood  prior  to  his  time.  Like  the  other 
Eastern  monks,  he  did  not,  however,  cease  his 
studies.  In  the  poets,  orators,  and  philosophers 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  as  well  as  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, was  his  delight.  But  this  fondness  for  the 
classics  was  destined  to  a  rebuke  and  suppression. 
In  a  vision  he  heard  a  voice  saying,  *'Who  art 
thou?"  His  answer  was,  *'I  am  a  Christian." 
The  voice  replied,  "Thou  art  not  a  Christian,  but 
a  Ciceronian."  He  felt  the  sting  of  the  accusa- 
tion, and  relinquished  his  beloved  authors,  and 
counseled  others  against  the  reading  of  them. 

Driven  out  of  Syria  by  the  disputes  of  the  polem- 
ical monks,  to  whom  he  said  he  preferred  wild 
beasts,  Jerome  returned  to  the  West  and  brought 


Great  Men  of  the  West.  209 

Monasticism  with  him.  Athanasius  had  already  by 
his  writings  introduced  the  ascetic  doctrines  from 
Egypt,  and  Ambrose  was  monastically  austere  at 
Milan,  but  Jerome  maybe  regarded  as  the  found- 
er of  Monasticism  as  an  institution  in  the  West. 
His  influence  in  persuading  both  men  and  women 
to  renounce  the  world,  to  forego  every  earthly 
pleasure,  every  human  sentiment,  we  might  say — ■ 
the  love  of  children,  of  parents,  of  husband  or 
w^ife — is  one  of  the  remarkable  signs  of  the  spirit 
of  that  time.  Marriage  in  any  case  was  approved 
by  him  only  because  it  produced  virgins  for  the 
cloister.  Ladies  of  the  highest  Roman  famiHes 
enthusiastically  took  up  his  ascetic  doctrines  and 
vowed  themselves  to  self-denial,  poverty,  and 
chastity.  They  learned  Hebrew  of  him  that  they 
might  chant  the  Psalms  in  the  original  tongue. 
They  formed  a  sort  of  society  and  had  their  regu- 
lar meetings  at  the  house  of  the  Marcella,  to  whom 
many  of  Jerome's  most  beautiful  letters  are  ad- 
dressed. One  of  these  letters,  written  in  385, 
contains  a  passage  of  such  charm  that,  as  an  illus- 
tration of  his  epistolary  style  in  his  large  corre- 
spondence with  these  noble  ladies,  I  will  present 
it  without  apology  for  its  length : 

**  Wherefore  seeing  that  we  have  journeyed  for 
much  of  our  life  through  a  troubled  sea,  and  that 
our  vessel  has  been  in  turn  shaken  by  raging  blasts 
and  shattered  upon  treacherous  reefs,  let  us,  as 
soon  as  may  be,  make  for  the  haven  of  rural  quiet- 
ude. There  such  country  dainties  as  milk  and 
H 


2IO  The  Chiwch  of  the  Fathers. 

household  bread,  and  greens  watered  by  our  own 
hands,  will  supply  us  with  coarse  but  harmless 
fare.  So  living,  sleep  will  not  call  us  away  from 
prayer,  nor  satiety  from  reading.  In  summer  the 
shade  of  a  tree  will  afford  us  privacy.  In  autumn 
the  quality  of  the  air  and  the  leaves  strewn  under 
foot  will  invite  us  to  stop  and  rest.  In  springtime 
the  fields  will  be  bright  with  flowers,  and  our  psalms 
will  sound  the  sweeter  for  the  twittering  of  the 
birds.  When  winter  comes  with  its  frost  and 
snow,  I  shall  not  have  to  buy  fuel,  and,  whether  I 
sleep  or  keep  vigil,  shall  be  warmer  than  in  town. 
Let  Rome  keep  to  itself  its  noise  and  bustle,  let 
the  cruel  shows  of  the  arena  go  on,  let  the  crowd 
rave  at  the  circus,  let  the  play-goers  revel  in  the 
theaters,  and — for  I  must  not  altogether  pass  over 
our  Christian  friends — let  the  '  House  of  Ladies' 
hold  its  daily  sittings.  It  is  good  for  us  to  cleave 
to  the  Lord,  and  to  put  our  hope  in  the  Lord  God, 
so  that  when  we  have  exchanged  our  present  pov- 
erty for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  we  may  be  able  to 
exclaim,  '  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee?  and 
there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  beside  thee.' 
Surely  if  we  can  find  such  blessedness  in  heaven 
we  may  well  grieve  to  have  sought  after  pleasures 
poor  and  passing  here  upon  earth." 

Too  stringent,  however,  for  the  populace  his 
rule  of  life  came  to  appear,  and  on  occasion  of  the 
death  of  Blesilla,  one  of  his  female  disciples,  whose 
end  was  believed  to  have  been  hastened  by  the 
rigid  self-denial  he  had  led  her  to  practice,  their 


Great  Men  of  the  West,  21 1 

fury  was  stirred  against  him,  and  they  raised  the 
cry,  "To  the  Tiber  with  the  monks  !  "  In  the  midst 
of  this  tribulation,  as  he  was  quitting  Rome  for 
Jerusalem,  he  wrote  to  another  of  his  lady  adher- 
ents in  the  following  strain: 

*'I  write  this  in  haste,  dear  Lady  Asella,  as  I 
go  on  board,  overwhelmed  with  grief  and  tears; 
yet  I  thank  my  God  that  I  am  counted  worthy 
of  the  world's  hatred.  Pray  for  me  that,  after 
Babylon,  I  may  see  Jerusalem  once  more;  that 
Joshua,  the  son  of  Josedech,  may  have  dominion 
over  me,  and  not  Nebuchadnezzar;  that  Ezra, 
whose  name  means  helper,  may  come  and  re- 
store me  to  my  own  country.  I  was  a  fool  in 
wishing  to  sing  the  Lord's  song  in  a  strange  land, 
and  in  leaving  Mount  Sinai,  to  seek  the  help  of 
Egypt.  I  forgot  that  the  gospel  warns  us  that 
he  who  goes  down  from  Jerusalem  immediately 
falls  among  robbers,  is  spoiled,  is  wounded,  is  left 
for  dead.  But,  although  priest  and  Levite  may 
disregard  me,  there  is  still  the  good  Samaritan 
who,  when  men  said  to  him,  '  Thou  art  a  Samari- 
tan and  hast  a  devil,'  disclaimed  having  a  devil, 
but  did  not  disclaim  being  a  Samaritan,  this  being 
the  Hebrew  equivalent  for  our  word  '  guardian.' 
Men  call  me  a  mischief-maker,  and  I  take  the  title 
as  a  recognition  of  my  faith.  For  I  am  but  a  serv- 
ant, and  the  Jews  still  call  my  master  a  magician. 
The  apostle,  likewise,  is  spoken  of  as  a  deceiver. 
There  hath  no  temptation  taken  me  but  such  as 
is  common  to  man.     How  few  distresses  have  I 


212  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

endured,  I  who  am  yet  a  soldier  of  the  cross! 
Men  have  laid  to  my  charge  a  crime  of  which  1 
am  not  guilty;  but  I  know  that  I  must  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  through  evil  report  as  well  as 
through  good." 

Jerome's  influence  was  great  also  in  the  encour- 
agement of  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land,  in  which 
he  set  the  example.  For  after  having  visited  many 
lands,  and  studied  in  many  famous  libraries  and 
under  the  wisest  teachers,  this,  one  of  the  most 
learned  of  all  the  Fathers,  settled  as  a  hermit  in 
Bethlehem,  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  years 
in  fasting  and  prayer,  and  in  study,  teaching,  and 
writing,  Jerome  was  a  master  not  only  of  Latin 
and  Greek  but  also  of  Hebrew — standing  thus  alone 
among  the  other  Fathers  of  his  time,  who  had  but 
little  if  any  knowledge  of  the  original  language  of 
the  Old  Testament.  And  he  used  the  knowledge 
he  had  acquired  by  his  early  study  of  the  classics, 
by  his  later  study  of  Hebrew  and  of  Chaldee,  and 
by  his  extensive  travels  and  long  residence  in  the 
East,  in  memorable  service  to  Christendom;  for 
he  translated  the  entire  Bible  into  the  language  of 
the  West.  This  monumental  work  is  known  as  the 
Vulgate.  Never  was  scholarship  used  to  better 
advantage.  Never  w^as  a  man's  words  (  about  the 
classics)  so  effectually  refuted  by  his  abilities  and 
achievements.  It  was  only  his  knowledge  of 
Cicero,  Virgil,  and  Horace,  of  Homer,  ^schylus, 
and  Pindar,  and  of  all  the  facts  of  geography, 
races,  and  customs  gained  by  observation,  that  en- 


Great  Men  of  the  West .  213 

abled  this  monk  to  render  so  great  a  service  to 
mankind. 

Many  important  and  learned  works  in  the  vari- 
ous departments  of  theological  literature  this  great 
scholar's  busy  pen  produced — exegetical  works, 
commentaries,  biographies,  and  histories,  polem- 
ical and  ethical  treatises,  and  epistles — but  his 
translation  of  the  Bible  into  Latin  outweighs  them 
all  a  hundred  times.  Made  from  the  original  lan- 
guages, this  work  represented  twenty  years  of 
toil.  He  himself  characterized  it  as  '-'- labor  -pius^ 
sed  -peri culosa  -prcBSUTnf  tie'''' — a  pious  labor,  but  a 
dangerous  undertaking — for  he  was  assailed  as  a 
disturber  of  the  peace  and  a  falsifier  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, because,  forsooth,  he  strove  to  supplant  with 
a  correct  translation  the  old  liala  that  was  full  of 
inaccuracies.  By  this  work  Jerome  became,  as 
Dr.  Schaff  says,  ''the  chief  former  of  the  Latin 
Church  language,  for  which  his  Vulgate  did  a  de- 
cisive service  similar  to  that  of  Luther's  transla- 
tion for  German  literature  and  that  of  the  authorized 
English  Protestant  version  for  English."  The  same 
historian  further  says:  *'The  Vulgate  takes  the 
first  place  among  the  Bible  versions  of  the  an- 
cient Church.  It  exerted  the  same  influence 
upon  Latin  Christendom,  as  the  LXX.  upon 
Greek,  and  is  directly  or  indirectly  the  mother  of 
the  most  of  the  earlier  versions  in  the  European 
vernaculars." 

A  monastic  city  grew  up  about  the  saintly  schol- 
ar's cell  in  the  birthplace  of   our  Saviour       Pil- 


214  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

grims  to  the  Holy  Land  sought  him  out,  and  many 
chose  the  ascetic  life  to  be  near  and  like  him.  Be- 
sides the  monastery  of  which  he  was  head,  there 
was  erected  a  church,  a  hospice  for  pilgrims,  and 
a  convent  for  women.  During  a  period  of  thirty- 
four  years  he  lived  here  with  the  greatest  austeri- 
ty, and  labored  with  almost  incredible  success. 
While  his  achievements  provoke  only  our  admi- 
ration, the  famous  painting  of  Domenichino,  rep- 
resenting the  emaciated  form  supported  for  the 
**Last  Communion,"  only  fills  us  with  a  sense  of 
the  profoundest  pity.  Such  learning,  such  mis- 
judgment  ! 

Jerome  was  the  bitterest  controversialist  the 
Church  has  had,  perhaps,  in  any  age.  There  was 
hardly  an  eminent  contemporary  with  whom  he 
had  not  some  acrimonious  dispute ;  and  his  words 
w^ere  either  daggers  or  bludgeons.  For  the  saint- 
ly Ambrose  he  had  the  base  charge  of  plagiarism. 
Against  the  heroic  John  Chrysostom,  the  Golden- 
mouth,  he  spread  a  venomous  diatribe.  With 
John,  the  good  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  he  had  a 
personal  contention  which  only  the  eminence  of 
the  parties  kept  from  being  petty  and  puerile. 
With  his  early  friend  and  fellow-monk,  Rufinus, 
he  engaged  in  a  quarrel  which  w^as  disgraceful  to 
the  whole  Church,  and  bore  him  hatred  beyond 
the  grave.  Vigilantius,  one  of  the  soberest-minded 
and  best  men  of  that  time,  he  treated  with  acrid 
contempt  in  public  attacks.  Against  Jovinian,  who 
advocated  a  temperate  rule  of  living  as  opposed  to 


Great  Men  of  the  West.  215 

severe  asceticism,  arguing  that  the  married  state,  if 
kept  in  faith  and  piety,  was  not  less  honorable  than 
virginity,  he  wrote:  *' These  are  the  hissings  of 
the  old  serpent;  by  these  the  dragon  expelled  man 
from  paradise."  Even  the  great  Augustine  came 
in  for  his  trenchant  rebuke  when  he  had  the  pre- 
sumption so  much  as  to  question  the  fitness  of  cer- 
tain of  his  biblical  renderings.  Against  Origen, 
also,  more  than  fifty  years  gone  to  his  great  re- 
ward, he  turned  bitterly  in  later  life,  although  in 
earlier  and  unspoiled  years  he  was  only  an  un- 
qualified eulogist  of  **the  true  man  of  adamant 
and  heart  of  brass."  To  the  very  end,  though  en- 
feebled in  body  by  age  and  fastings,  he  was  still 
vigilant  of  the  true  faith  and  fierce  in  its  defense. 
The  truths  of  Christianity  were  to  him  the  golden 
apples  of  the  garden  of  Hesperus,  and  he  was  the 
great  dragon  set  therein  to  guard  them.  In  paint- 
ing and  sculpture  he  is  represented  always  attended 
by  a  lion.  His  own  words  to  Rufinus  may  help  us 
to  understand  his  spirit:  *'When  you  realize  the 
effort  of  the  fighter,  then  you  will  be  able  to  praise 
the  victory." 

He  died  in  420,  and  was  buried  near  the  Grot- 
to of  the  Nativity  in  Bethlehem.  A  hon  is  his 
symbol.  In  the  old  pictures  and  in  many  a 
cathedral  window  the  king  of  beasts  and  the 
terror  of  man  stands  beside  this  fierce  defender 
of  the  truth,  while  the  Book  of  Truth  lies  open 
in  his  hand. 


2i6  The  Church  of  the  Pathers, 

3.  Augustine. 

"  Ubi  amor^  ibi  trinitas?'' 

'•  Naught  conquers  but  truth;  the  victory  of  truth  is  love." 

"Thou  hast  made  us  for  Thyself,  and  our  hearts  are  restless 
till  they  rest  in  Thee." 

"My  Father,  supremely  good.  Beauty  of  all  things  beauti- 
ful." 

"The  reward  of  God  is  God  himself." 

"A  happy  life  is  joy  in  the  truth." 

— Sayings  of  St,  Augustine. 

Ambrose  vindicated  the  spiritual  supremacy  of 
the  Church  even  over  emperors;  Jerome  by  his 
translations  of  the  Bible  permanently  fixed  the 
language  of  the  Church;  Augustine  accomplished 
a  more  eminent  task — the  determining  for  a  thou- 
sand years  the  prevalent  theology  of  the  Church. 

A  special  distinction  belongs  to  St.  Augustine  as 
the  solitary  author  in  this  period  who  wrote  any- 
thing that  is  still  popularly  read.  His  *' Confes- 
sions "  is  a  book  which  has  equal  fame  with 
Marcus  Aurelius's  "Meditations"  and  Thomas  a 
Kempis's  *' Imitation."  In  this  book  his  whole 
heart  is  laid  bare  before  God,  and,  incidentally, 
as  it  were,  we  are  permitted  to  look  in  upon  the 
most  intimate  secrets  of  an  extraordinary  life.  His 
whole  discourse  is  praj^er  to  God,  the  good  Om- 
nipotent, who  careth  for  every  one  as  if  he  cared  for 
him  only.  His  "Confessions  "  are  one  symphony 
of  praise  to  God,  the  Light  of  his  heart.  "Thou 
movest  us  to  delight  in  praising  thee,"  he  begins, 
"for  thou  hast  made  us  for  thyself,  and  we  are 
restless  till  we  rest  in  thee." 


Gi'cat  Men  of  ih  e  West .  217 

This  famous  saying  is  the  complete  commentar}^ 
on  his  life.  Gifted  with  unusual  energy  of  mind 
and  thirst  after  philosophic  truth,  his  life  Up  to  his 
thirty-fourth  year  was  one  strange  mixture  of  ar- 
dent spiritual  aspiration  and  of  gross  carnal  indul- 
gence. The  heights  and  depths  were  equal.  Born 
in  North  Africa,  like  Tertullian,  his  temper  par- 
took, as  did  Tertullian's,  of  the  nature  of  that  fiery 
clime.  His  father,  Patricius,  was  a  heathen,  but 
a  cultured  one,  and  of  a  passionate  sensibility, 
which  he  bequeathed  to  his  son.  His  mother's 
name — all  the  world  knows  it — was  Monica,  one 
of  the  brightest  names  in  all  the  records  of  ador- 
able motherhood.  She  was  a  Christian  woman, 
whose  tears  mingled  with  her  broken  prayers  for 
the  salvation  of  her  wayward  boy.  **  Go  thy  way, 
and  God  bless  thee,"  once  said  a  certain  bishop 
to  whom  she  had  gone  for  help  and  consolation; 
**  for  it  is  not  possible  that  the  son  of  these  tears 
should  perish."  He  was  given  the  best  education- 
al advantages  from  the  first,  and,  though  not  uni- 
formly diligent,  he  progressed  rapidly.  In  young 
manhood  he  went  to  Rome,  first  to  study,  then 
to  teach  rhetoric,  a  study  which  then  embraced 
what  later  was  known  as  the  "  humanities,"  or  the 
belles-letU'es.  Meanwhile  he  both  led  a  profligate 
life  and  searched  for  a  satisfying  philosophy.  Cic- 
ero's '*  Hortensius,"  he  relates,  turned  his  prayers 
to  the  Lord  and  made  him  have  other  hopes  and 
fears.  "How  ardent  was  I  then,  my  God,  how 
ardent  to  fly  from  earthl}^  things  to  thee  I  "     , 


2i8  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Manichaeism — the  doctrine  of  two  opposed  prin- 
ciples, evil  and  good,  united  respectively  with  mat- 
ter and  spirit — first  commended  itself  to  his  mind. 
This  heresy  consisted  of  a  Persian  theory  com- 
bined with  a  distorted  Paulinism,  such  as,  for  ex- 
ample, is  to  be  found  in  the  seventh  chapter  of 
Romans,  where  the  apostle  so  powerfully  depicts 
the  eternal  conflict.  He  came  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  error  of  Manichgeism  by  discovering  the  nature 
of  evil  as  "  naught  but  a  privation  of  good,  until  in 
the  end  it  ceases  altogether  to  be."  He  was  at 
that  time  nineteen  years  old. 

Neoplatonism  was  the  next  system  of  doctrine 
which  he  tried.  We  have  already  considered  the 
claims  of  this  philosophy  to  meet  the  world's  needs 
of  a  universal  redemptive  religion.  Its  lofty  ideal- 
ism and  high  spiritual  as  well  as  ethical  aims  ap- 
pealed mightily  to  the  eager  soul  of  Augustine.  In 
this  teaching  he  found  much  to  inspire,  much  to  be 
followed,  but  nothing  to  renew  the  mind.  In  later 
years  he  wrote,  *'  No  philosophers  come  nearer 
to  us  than  the  Platonists  "  ;  but  he  found  not  in 
them  the  power  of  God  unto  newness  of  life. 

At  the  age  of  thirty,  in  pursuit  of  his  profession, 
in  which  he  was  now  distinguished,  he  went  to 
Milan  and  listened  to  Ambrose  preach.  His  moth- 
er, made  strong  by  her  piety,  had  followed  him 
over  lands  and  sea,  in  all  perils  feeling  secure  in 
God.  *'  For  in  the  dangers  of  the  sea,"  he  con- 
tinues to  relate,  "she  comforted  the  very  sailors, 
assuring  them  of  a  safe  arrival,  because  she  had 


Great  Men  of  the  Weit.  219 

been  so  assured  by  thee  in  a  vision."  By  the  ser- 
mons of  Ambrose  he  was  brought  first  to  a  state  of 
agitation,  and  his  mother  'Moved  that  man  as  an 
angel  of  God"  for  this  w^ork,  and  continued  to 
pray.  He  sought  to  change  his  manner  of  Hfe  and 
work  his  own  reformation.  Problems  of  thought, 
however,  would  not  let  him  have  rest.  He  passed 
through  great  struggles,  seeking  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures  from  Ambrose  and  pondering  much  his 
frequent  saying,  "  The  letter  killeth,  but  the  Spir- 
it giveth  life."  Yet  the  disorder  and  darkened 
eyesight  of  his  mind,  he  says,  "  by  the  sharp 
anointings  of  healthful  sorrows,  was  from  day  to 
day  made  whole." 

His  conversion — an  event  of  so  great  importance 
as  to  be  commemorated  in  the  Roman  calendar — 
was  consummated  while  he  was  walking  one  day 
with  his  friend  Alypius  in  the  garden  of  the  house 
where  they  were  lodging  near  Milan.  With  a  per- 
turbed and  groaning  spirit  he  was  pouring  out  his 
soul,  apart  from  his  friend,  in  anguishful  prayer 
for  truth  and  peace.  Thereupon  he  heard  a  voice 
saying,  ''  Tolle,  lege  !  Tolle,  lege  !  "  Thinking  at 
first  it  was  a  child  exclaiming  this  in  some  game, 
on  reflection  he  found  the  words  so  suited  to  him- 
self that  he  concluded  it  was  a  heavenly  voice  ut- 
tering them,  bidding  him,  ''Take,  read."  The 
further  account  is  best  given  in  his  own  words: 
"  So,  restraining  the  torrent  of  my  tears,  I  rose  up, 
interpreting  it  no  other  way  than  as  a  command  to 
me  from  heaven  to  open  the  book,  and  read  the 


220  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

first  chapter  I  should  light  upon.  For  I  had  heard 
of  Anthony  that,  accidentally  coming  in  whilst  the 
gospel  was  being  read,  he  received  the  admonition 
as  if  what  was  read  were  addressed  to  him,  '  Go 
sell  that  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou 
shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven;  and  come  and  fol- 
low me.'  And  by  such  oracle  was  he  forthwith 
converted  unto  Thee.  So  quickly  I  returned  to 
the  place  where  Alypius  was  sitting;  for  there  had 
I  put  down  the  volume  of  the  apostles,  when  I 
rose  thence.  I  grasped,  opened,  and  in  silence 
read  that  paragraph  on  which  my  eyes  first  fell: 
'Not  in  rioting  and  drunkenness,  not  in  chamber- 
ing and  wantonness,  not  in  strife  and  envying;  but 
put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  make  not 
provision  for  the  flesh,  to  fulfill  the  lusts  thereof.' 
No  further  would  I  read,  nor  did  I  need;  for  in- 
stantly, as  the  sentence  ended — by  the  light,  as  it 
were,  of  security  infused  into  my  heart — all  the 
gloom  of  doubt  vanished  away." 

Never  was  there  a  more  ardent  longing  after 
the  living  God  since  the  time  of  David  ;  and  never 
was  there  a  more  glorious  finding  of  him.  And  at 
last  he  discovered  that  he  for  whom  he  was  search- 
ing had  ever  been  near  him — the  bread  of  the  in- 
ner mouth  of  his  soul,  he  says,  and  the  power  that 
wedded  his  mind  with  his  innermost  thoughts. 
The  seeking  and  the  finding,  the  regret  and  the 
joy,  are  all  expressed  in  a  passage  remarkable  for 
its  beauty  and  almost  a  psalm  in  adoring  ecstasy: 
"I  have  loved  thee  late,  thou  Beauty,  so  old  and 


Great  M 671  of  the  West.  221 

so  new ;  I  have  loved  thee  late !  And  lo !  thou 
wast  within,  but  I  was  without,  and  was  seeking 
thee  there.  And  into  thy  fair  creation  I  plunged 
myself  in  my  ugliness;  for  thou  wast  with  me, 
and  I  was  not  with  thee  I  Those  things  kept  me 
away  from  thee,  which  had  not  been  except  they 
had  been  in  thee !  Thou  didst  call,  and  didst  cry 
aloud,  and  break  through  my  deafness.  Thou 
didst  glimmer,  thou  didst  shine,  and  didst  drive 
away  my  blindness.  Thou  didst  breathe,  and  I 
drew  breath,  and  breathed  in  thee.  I  tasted  thee, 
and  I  hunger  and  thirst.  Thou  didst  touch  me, 
and  I  burn  for  thy  peace.  If  I,  with  all  that 
is  within  me,  may  once  live  in  thee,  then  shall 
pain  and  trouble  forsake  me ;  entirely  filled  with 
thee,  all  shall  be  life  to  me." 

The  conception  of  God  as  an  indwelling  pres- 
ence, the  very  breath  of  our  being,  is  one  of 
the  sublimest  in  this  book  of  sublime  thoughts. 
"Thou  wert  more  inward  to  me  than  my  in- 
most inward  part,  and  higher  than  my  highest." 
'*Thou  art  wholly  everywhere,  whilst  nothing  alto- 
gether contains  thee."  ''Where  do  I  call  thee  to, 
since  thou  art  in  me?"  His  concept  of  life,  its 
end  and  way,  was  correspondingly  high.  The 
following  quotations  are  to  the  point:  "Life  eter- 
nal is  the  supreme  good,  and  death  eternal  the 
supreme  evil,  and  to  obtain  the  one  and  to  escape 
the  other  we  must  live  rightly."  In  this  world  and 
in  the  next  "all  virtue  will  be  to  love  what  one  sees, 
and  the  highest  felicity  to  have  what  one  loves." 


222  The  Church  of  the  Feathers. 

His  doctrine  of  evil  leads  to  a  view  as  optimis- 
tic as  that  which  Origen  expressed  of  the  final 
restoration  of  all  things.  He  thus  solves  the  im- 
memorial problem  of  why  evil  in  the  universe  of 
a  good  God  should  be  permitted  to  exist:  "As 
the  opposition  of  contraries  lend  beauty  to  lan- 
guage, so  the  beauty  of  the  course  of  this  world 
is  achieved  by  the  opposition  of  contraries,  ar- 
ranged, as  it  were,  by  eloquence  not  of  words,  but 
of  things."  The  course  of  the  ages  is  *'an  ex- 
quisite poem  set  off  with  antitheses."  Again, 
using  an  illustration  from  another  field  of  art, 
he  says:  *'For  as  the  beauty  of  a  picture  is  in- 
creased by  well-managed  shadows,  so  to  the  eye 
that  has  skill  to  discern  it  the  universe  is  beauti- 
fied even  by  sinners,  though,  considered  by  them- 
selves, their  deformity  is  a  sad  blemish."  The 
viper,  which  God  has  created  good,  fits  inferior 
parts  of  his  creation;  so  likewise  does  the  sinner. 
*'To  thee  is  there  nothing  at  all  evil,  and  not  only 
to  thee,  but  to  thy  whole  creation;  because  there 
is  nothing  without  which  can  break  in  and  mar 
that  order  which  thou  hast  appointed." 

The  forty-three  years  of  his  life  after  his  con- 
version were  devoted  by  Augustine  to  arduous 
and  heroic  labors  for  the  Church.  Havinfj  been 
baptized  by  Ambrose,  he  returned  to  Africa  where 
first  for  three  years  he  lived  in  ascetic  retirement, 
founding  the  monastic  order  called  either  after 
himself  the  **Augustinian,"  or,  since  they  wore 
the  black  dress  adopted  from  the  East,  the  "  Black 


Great  Men  of  the  West.  223 

Friars."  In  395  he  was  made  bishop  of  Hippo, 
an  office  which  he  occupied  the  remainder  of  his 
life  of  thirty-five  years,  and  a  title  which  he  yet 
bears. 

His  activity  was  prodigious.  In  continual  requi- 
sition wherever  he  went  to  preach — commonly  de- 
livering a  sermon  each  day,  and  sometimes  several — 
he  found  time  to  write  that  series  of  eight  large  im- 
perial octavo  volumes  which  are  now  published 
in  the  *'Nicene  and  Post-Nicene  Fathers,"  and 
these  are  only  a  part  of  his  writings.  Further- 
more, he  lived  and  labored  through  tvvo  of  the 
stormiest  controversies  of  the  Church,  in  each  of 
which  he  was  the  victorious  protagonist  of  ortho- 
dox Catholicism;  and  through  the  successive  dis- 
astrous invasions  of  Goths,  Huns,  and  Vandals, 
who  repeatedly  laid  waste  the  country  of  his  la- 
bors. 

As  the  history  of  the  Pelagian  controversy  is  to 
be  given  at  length  later,  his  part  in  that  strife  w^ill 
there  be  set  forth.  It  is  largely  a  history  of  his 
doctrines  and  activities. 

During  this  devastation  of  the  empire  by  the 
barbarians,  Augustine  wrote  his  monumental  work 
entitled  ''The  City  of  God."  It  is  a  philosophy 
of  history,  endeavoring  to  show  that  it  was  foreor- 
dained in  the  providence  of  God  that  Rome  should 
fall  in  order  that  the  true  eternal  city,  the  ttrhs 
ceter7ia  et  sacra  of  the  Christian  Church,  might  rise 
and  rule  the  world.  This  great  book,  second  in 
value  to  the  modern  reader  only  to  the  "Confe3- 


224  ^^^  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

sions,"  was  deeply  studied,  it  is  a  noLeworthy  fact, 
by  Charles  the  Great. 

Augustine  was  a  man  of  genius  and  of  intense 
force  of  character.  There  were  more  learned 
men  among  the  Fathers — although  he  is  worthy  to 
be  accounted  one  of  the  four  '^Doctors"  of  the  Lat- 
in Church — but  not  one  whose  influence  exceeded 
his.  He  illustrates  how  much  an  ardent  temper- 
ament, a  soul  kindled  by  a  lofty  emotion,  counts 
for  in  life.  A  line  in  the  old  Latin  hymn  entitled 
**The  Glory  and  Joys  of  Paradise,"  ascribed, 
though  erroneously,  to  him,  yet  expresses  the 
dominant  desire  of  his  being:  "' Ad  ferennisvitce 
fontem  mens  sitivit  arida/' 

From  the  experience  of  his  fruitless  search  for 
a  system  of  truth  that  should  commend  itself  as 
such  to  the  reason,  and  at  the  same  time  satisfy 
*'the  parched  soul's  longing  for  the  perennial 
fountain  of  life,"  he  arrived  at  a  perception  which 
became  a  watchword  in  his  great  controversy  with 
Pelagius,  and  is  valuable  for  all  time,  namely, 
*' Faith  precedes  understanding." 

From  this  time  on,  the  questions  of  dispute  in 
the  Church  concerned  not  those  things  which  en- 
gaged the  great  early  councils,  but  original  sin, 
grace,  election  and  reprobation,  the  freedom  of 
the  will,  and  the  sovereignty  of  God. 


WORSHIP,  RITUAL,  AND  OBSERVANCES. 
•5 


"We  may  look  back  once  more  and  try  to  conceive,  if  we 
will,  what  was  its  (the  Church's)  appeal  to  the  imagination 
while  still  unchallenged.  We  may  guess  it,  if  we  can,  by 
what  still  remains  of  it  at  the  command  of  Rome  to-day  — 
incomparably  more  brilliant,  imposing,  and  august  than  an} 
military  or  state  show  with  which  it  might  possibly  be  com- 
pared.     .     .     . 

"All  we  have  seen  or  learned  of  the  glory  of  the  outer  tem- 
ple is  but  playing  upon  the  surface  of  a  tide  of  power,  whose 
real  depth  is  far  within.  The  symbolism  sculptured  uppn 
walls,  or  built  into  corbel  and  capital,  or  blazoned  in  the  arch- 
es of  stately  windows,  is  repeated  in  innumerable  ways — in 
creed,  song,  litany;  in  priestly  robes  and  swinging  censer  and 
lighted  candle;  in  the  tone  of  silver  bell,  or  the  deep,  mellow 
peal  that  steals  down  from  the  church  tower  like  an  infolding 
mist,  or  the  chime  that  rings  out  on  the  air  at  change  of  hours; 
in  the  chant  sung  by  one  powerful  voice  or  answered  by  the 
harmonies  of  the  cathedral  clioir;  in  the  melody  of  hymns, 
whose  tenderness  we  feel  in  the  Stnbat  Mate>\  as  we  feel  their 
terror  and  their  awe  in  the  Dies  Free;  in  the  uplifted  Host,  which 
multitudes  adore  as  a  literally  present  and  visible  deity;  in  the 
diversities  of  sound  and  pomp  of  color  that  belong  to  the  pro- 
cession on  some  festal  day.  All  these  are  only  the  various 
language  in  which  that  Church  is  continually  preaching  to  eye 
and  ear  her  awful  mysteries,  tlie  symbol  and  accompaniment 
of  the  Real  Presence,  which  she  claims  to  hold  only  in  her 
keeping.  Whatever  the  human  mind  has  yet  conceived  of 
terror  and  pain,  of  awe  and  majesty,  of  gladness,  reverence, 
and  hope,  is  shadowed  forth  in  that  language  of  picture  and 
music,  with  a  power  scarce  diminished  to  this  day." — -J.  H. 
Allen, 

(226) 


CHAPTER  XI. 

WORSHIP,  RITUAL,  AND  OBSERVANCES. 

I.  Church-building. 

The  Christians  began  by  worshiping  in  the  Jew- 
ish synagogues.  In  them  Jesus  taught  and  Paul 
preached.  By  the  increasing  hostihty  of  the  Jews, 
however,  they  were  in  time  excluded  from  their 
holy  places,  and  the  apostles  taught  and  preached 
thereafter  in  private  houses,  in  public  assembly 
places,  and  wherever  opportunity  offered.  Ceme- 
teries where  martyrs  were  buried  were  favorite 
spots.  The  lodge  rooms,  or  collegia  halls,  and 
the  lecture  halls  of  pagans  came  later  on  to  be 
used. 

But  the  basilica,  or  town  **Hall  of  Justice,"  of 
all  others,  offered  the  most  suitable  place  for  Chris- 
tian assemblage  and  worship.  In  order  to  under- 
stand its  interior  arrangement  it  is  necessary  only 
to  go  into  an  English  or  Roman  Catholic  cathe- 
dral— a  chapel  will  do — for  the  basilica  provided  a 
model  for  church  architecture.  Being  designed 
for  a  court  of  justice,  it  was  oblong  in  form  and 
divided  lengthwise  by  two  rows  of  columns,  form- 
ing three  avenues,  or  aisles;  these  were  crossed 
by  a  third  avenue  somewhat  elevated,  upon  which, 
in  the  center,  sat  the  advocates,  notaries,  and  other 
men  of  law.     At  the  end  of  the  building,  where  it 

(227) 


228  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

swelled  into  a  semicircular  recess,  with  rounded 
ceiling,  sat  the  judge  and  his  assistants. 

Now  when  this  came  to  be  used  as  a  place  of 
Christian  worship,  the  two  outer  colonnaded  av- 
enues continued  to  be  used,  the  one  by  men,  the 
other  by  women,  for  the  assembly;  the  middle  av- 
enue came  to  be  designated  "  nave,"  because  of  its 
fancied  resemblance  to  St.  Peter's  ship  (^7/^2^/5^;  the 
transverse  aisle  completed,  with  the  nave,  a  cross; 
the  bishop  took  the  chief  magistrate's  throne,  and 
the  presbyters  sat  upon  either  hand  in  the  place  of 
the  assistants. 

Symbolism  was  developed  much  further  when 
churches,  on  this  model,  began  to  be  built.  The 
fourth  century  "Apostolic  Constitutions"  give  us 
the  prescribed  plan  and  the  significance  of  each 
part,  and  regulate  also  the  order  of  the  various 
classes  composing  the  congregation. 

Pagan  temples,  never  being  designed  for  the 
general  assemblage  of  worshipers,  were  not  com- 
monly suitable  to  the  use  of  Christians.  In  some 
instances,  however,  they  were  taken  possession  of 
when  power  was  gained,  and  used  without  any  or 
considerable  change;  in  other  instances,  they  were 
torn  down  and  reconstructed. 

The  first  mention  of  church-building  is  made  in 
the  reign  of  Severus  (A.D.  222-235).  It  is  esti- 
mated that  by  the  3^ear  300  there  were  forty  Chris- 
tian churches  and  chapels  in  Rome.  There  were 
at  the  same  time  one  hundred  and  fifty  pagan  tem- 
ples and  one  hundred  and  eighty  pagan  chapels 


Vl^orship,  Ritual^  and  Observances.         229 

and  shrines.  The  persecution  of  Diocletian  be- 
gan (A.D.  303)  with  the  wholesale  destruction  of 
Christian  shrines.  Constantine  is  much  eulogized 
by  Eusebius  as  a  restorer  and  builder  of  them. 
When  his  mother,  Helen,  had  made  her  famous 
pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  to  find  the  cross  on  which 
the  Saviour  suffered,  and,  as  was  believed,  did  find 
it,  together  with  those  of  the  two  thieves,  the  first 
Christian  emperor  had  a  magnificent  and  richly 
adorned  church  erected  over  the  spot,  and  called 
it  the  "Church  of  the  Resurrection,"  it  coming 
later  to  be  known  as  the  *' Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulcher."  The  upper  ceiling  of  this  was  over- 
laid with  gold,  the  nave  was  lined  with  marbles; 
twelve  pillars,  representing  the  twelve  apostles, 
upbore  the  dome,  and  their  capitals  were  vases  of 
silver.  Many  other  sacred  places  were  honored 
by  the  emperor  in  a  like  munificent  manner. 

2.  The  Overthrow  of  Paganism. 

With  the  activity  displayed  in  building  churches, 
after  the  revenues  of  the  empire  came  into  the 
hands  of  the  Christians,  proceeded — inasmuch  as 
they  had  not  only  the  will  but  the  power — the  de- 
struction of  temples  and  the  extermination,  root 
and  branch,  of  paganism.  By  the  famous  Edict 
of  Milan,  issued  by  Constantine  in  312,  entire  and 
absolute  religious  liberty  was  guaranteed  to  every 
subject  to  believe  and  worship  according  to  that 
faith  wherein  he  was  reared  or  w^hich  he  had  cho- 
sen.    It  was  a  memorable  act  and  very  illustrious. 


230  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

Not  many  years  passed,  however,  before  the  tide 
of  persecution  that  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
had  been  deluging  the  Christians  in  their  own 
blood  was  turned  with  religious  madness  upon  the 
now  dethroned  heathen  worshipers.  Constantius, 
the  son  of  Constantine,  but  less  wise  and  great 
every  way  than  his  father,  prohibited  pagan  sacri- 
fices by  edict,  and,  as  an  instance  of  his  zeal,  re- 
moved the  pagan  Altar  of  Victory  from  the  Roman 
senate  chamber. 

Julian,  known  as  the  Apostate,  was  his  succes- 
sor (361-363).  Properly  speaking,  he  was  not 
an  "apostate,"  but  always  an  adherent — though, 
until  he  came  to  the  throne,  not  openly — of  pagan 
worship  and  philosophy.  While  a  student  togeth- 
er with  him  at  Athens,  Gregory  Nazianzen  had 
prophesied  bad  of  him,  it  is  said,  in  these  words; 
'*What  an  evil  the  Roman  state  is  here  nourish- 
ing!" Julian  was  outrageously  tyrannized  over 
by  his  narrow-minded  and  jealous  relative,  the 
emperor.  He  was  put  unwillingly  to  a  monaste- 
rial  school  in  Nicomedia ;  for  seven  months  he  was 
imprisoned  through  base  suspicion.  Envied  by 
the  emperor  because  he  was  brillant  and  popular, 
he  was  treated  with  ignominy  and  inhuman  cruel- 
ty. As  Csesar,  and  so  heir  to  the  imperial  throne, 
he  was  feared  and  perpetually  suspected;  the  fate 
of  his  father  threatened  him — death  at  the  hands 
of  Constantius. 

Julian  always  had  a  preference  for  paganism. 
The  Christianity  he  knew  was    stained  with  the 


Worship,  RituaU  ci^td  Observances,        231 

blood  of  murder;  was  cruel,  corrupt,  and  devoid 
of  that  beauty  and  ancient  humanity  which  he 
loved.  As  soon  as,  without  danger  to  his  life,  he 
had  opportunity,  he  openly  showed  his  preference. 
He  did  not  persecute  the  Christians;  on  the  con- 
trary, he  recalled  the  exiled  bishops,  saying  they 
would  destroy  one  another  in  their  strifes.  It  is  a 
bitter  reflection,  with  too  much  reason  for  it.  Ju- 
lian went  no  further  than  to  withdraw  from  the 
Church  the  privileges  before  granted,  and  to  favor 
pagan  worship.  But  there  was  a  general  revival 
of  paganism  in  the  empire,  and  in  divers  parts  vio- 
lent outbreaks  occurred  against  the  Church. 

Gratian  (375-383)  confiscated  temples  and  pa- 
gan property  to  Christian  uses,  and  rponks  in  va- 
rious regions  set  about  the  violent  and  general  de- 
struction of  the  beautiful  edifices  of  the  ancient 
worship.  It  was  in  these  times  that  Libanius,  the 
illustrious  pagan  teacher  before  spoken  of,  ad- 
dressed to  the  emperor  an  eloquent  plea  in  behalf 
of  their  preservation.  The  most  celebrated  and 
magnificent  of  all  the  temples  destroyed  was  that 
of  Serapis,  known  as  the  Serapion,  in  Alexandria, 
A.D.  391.  The  bishop,  Theophilus,  is  accred- 
ited with  having  incited  the  monks  to  this  deed. 
With  it  perished  not  only  an  incalculable  amount  of 
fine  statuary,  but  the  great  library  which  ages  had 
contributed  to  build  up. 

Here  and  there,  within  the  Church,  a  voice  of 
deprecation  and  remonstrance  was  raised,  but  to 
no  avail.     Chrysostom  pleaded:    ''Christians  are 


232  The  Church  of  the  leathers. 

not  to  destroy  error  by  force  and  violence,  but 
should  work  the  salvation  of  men  by  persuasion, 
instruction,  and  love."  Augustine  spoke  at  one 
time  to  the  same  effect,  but  generally  inculcated 
the  strict  literal  fulfillment  of  the  Saviour's  com- 
mandment: "Compel  them  to  come  in."  He 
strangely  believed  physical  compulsion  was  there- 
by meant  and  enjoined,  and  so  a  narrow,  hard  the- 
ology made  a  great-hearted  man  cruel  and  false. 

Theodosius  the  Great  (392-395)  made  the  visit- 
ing of  heathen  temples  for  religious  purposes  a 
crime  with  heavy  penalties.  The  performance  of 
any  pagan  rites  or  ceremonies  was  prohibited.  In 
408,  Honorius  denied  to  pagans  the  right  of  hold- 
ing office,  either  civil  or  military.  In  415  a  terri- 
ble outbreak,  directed  by  Archbishop  Cyril,  oc- 
curred in  Alexandria,  in  which  Hypatia,  honored 
for  virtue  and  beauty  of  life,  as  well  as  for  learn- 
ing, was  cruelly  cut  to  pieces  by  shells  in  the 
hands  of  a  frantic  mob  of  Nitrian  monks,  and  then 
burned. 

Under  Theodosius  II.  the  temples  were  ordered 
to  be  everywhere  destroyed  orturned  into  churches. 
Justinian,  in  539,  closed  the  famous  school  of  phi- 
losophy at  Athens,  which  had  been  in  existence 
for  nine  centuries,  and  drove  its  sever  teachers — 
who  kept  up  the  tradition  of  the  ancient  Seven 
Wise  Men  of  Greece — into  exile,  which  they 
chose  rather  than  a  forced  change  of  faith.  This 
same  emperor  made  adherence  to  paganism  a  crime 
to  be  punished  with  death. 


WorsJiif^  RituaU  and  Observances,         233 

Thus  varied  for  some  generations  the  tide  of 
power,  and  with  it  the  tide  of  persecution. 

3.  Pagan  Survivals  in  Christianity. 

"All  things  are  jours."  "Prove  all  things,  hold  fast  that 
which  is  good." — St.  Paul. 

"  For  good,  wherever  found,  is  a  property  of  truth." — Socrates 
{Scholasticus). 

Violent  transitions  are  opposed  to  the  nature  and 
laws  of  the  mind,  alike  of  civilized  and  unciviHzed. 
The  worshipers  of  heathen  gods  had  to  be  led  grad- 
ually and  by  devious  routes  to  new  altars.  They 
perhaps  could  not  have  been  induced  at  all  to 
make  the  change  had  they  not  perceived  in  the 
new  cult  features  familiar  to  them  in  the  old,  and 
doctrines  similar,  but  better,  and  rites  of  kindred 
nature,  only  more  significant,  and  all  richer  in  the 
power  of  a  new  and  diviner  life,  more  satisfying 
to  mind  and  soul. 

In  the  catacombs  Christ  is  represented  now  as 
Apollo  surrounded,  as  he  strikes  the  lyre,  by  the 
Grecian  muses;  now  as  the  shepherd  Apollo, 
piping  among  the  sheep  of  Admetus ;  and  again 
as  Orpheus,  leading  captive  and  tamed  the  wild 
beasts,  which  are  charmed  by  the  harmony  of  his 
doctrines.  Scriptural  and  mythological  scenes  are 
freely  mixed  in  the  sepulchral  carvings.  The  but- 
terfly, the  classic  representation  of  Psyche  (the 
soul),  and  the  three  Graces,  either  painted  or 
carved,  adorn  these  tombs.  The  myths  of  Bac- 
chus, the  god  of  the  vintage,  and  of  Mercury,  the 


234  '^^^^  Church  of  the  Feathers. 

messenger  of  the  Olympian  theocracy,  are  depict- 
ed amidst  the  scenes  of  patriarch  and  prophet. 

All  this  is  significant  of  a  general  process,  name- 
ly, the  incorporation  of  pagan  symbols,  rites,  and 
usages  into  Christianity.  The  extent  to  which  it 
was  carried  would  doubtless  surprise  the  reader 
before  unacquainted  with  the  facts.  As  a  further 
illustration,  chosen  out  of  many  available,  the  wor- 
ship of  the  Virgin  Mary,  which  arose  in  Syria, 
came  natural  to  that  people  who  were  accustomed 
to  worship  Astarte,  whose  counterpart  was  Venus 
Urania  in  the  West,  and  the  Queen  of  Heaven  in 
Africa,  The  worship  of  saints  as  heavenly  patrons 
and  guardians  came  easy  to  peoples  accustomed  to 
honor  patron  gods  and  goddesses. 

It  was  the  Christian  custom,  furthermore,  to  sub- 
stitute their  own  festivals  for  the  heathen  ones, 
and  thus  to  meet  the  demands  of  human  nature  in 
her  usages.  There  were  scarcely  fewer,  it  is  said, 
than  one  hundred  festival  days  in  the  pagan  calen- 
dar. Who,  in  view  of  this  social  fact,  can  wonder 
at  the  multitude  which  the  Church  found  it  expe- 
dient to  adopt  or  devise?  Christmas,  to  instance 
one,  probably  was  originated  at  Rome  to  take  the 
place,  with  its  beautiful  and  eternal  significance, 
of  the  corrupt  Saturnalia,  or  festivities  in  honor  of 
Saturn.  **  Heathen  writers  constantly  taunt  the 
Christians  with  the  substitution  of  a  new  idolatry 
for  the  old.'*  In  the  mouth  of  their  dead  they 
placed  a  coin,  as  the  heathen  did  for  boat  pay  to 
Charon.     At  the  tombs  they  had  festive  gather- 


Worships  Ritual^  and  Observances..         235 

ings,  and  ate,  drank,  and  danced,  often  to  excess, 
and  to  the  reproach  of  the  Name;  this  in  imita- 
tion of  the  pagan  custom  of  propitiation  of  the 
manes,  or  the  shades,  of  ancestors. 

When  Constantine  laid  the  foundation  of  nis 
new  seat  of  empire  on  the  Bosphorus,  he  used  the 
elaborate  ancient  pagan  ritual  dedicated  mimemo- 
rially  to  this  service.  And  even  when  he  built 
Christian  churches,  he  gave  them  classic  names: 
one  was  called  St.  Sophia  (wisdom),  and  another 
St.  Eirene  (peace). 

A  custom  which  aided  the  bringing  in  of  hea- 
then rites  was  that  of  building  a  Christian  shrine, 
or  church,  on  the  spot  where  one  of  the  older  cult 
had  been  destroyed.  St.  Martin,  in  Gaul,  and  St. 
Augustine, in  England,  followedthis  systematically. 
Where  the  cathedral  of  CanterlrM-y  now  stands,  to 
commemorate  the  landing  of  St.  r^.:  -jstine  and 
his  meeting  with  King  Ethelbert,  formerly  stood  a 
heathen  shrine,  which  the  planter  of  the  new  faith 
removed.  He  even  permitted  the  heathen  con- 
verts to  continue  their  animal  sacrifices  in  the 
church.  Heathen,  like  children,  are  educated 
but  slowly;  and  the  Church  is  for  the  education 
of  the  human  race. 

4.   Hymnology. 

The  Psalms  were  the  first  hymns  of  the  Chris- 
tian people;  for  '*the  Psalter  ...  springs  from 
the  deep  fountains  of  the  human  heart  in  its  se- 
cret communion  with  God,  and  gives  classic  ex- 


236  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

pression  to  the  religious  experience  of  all  men  in 
every  age  and  tongue."  But  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore they  had  a  sacred  and  beautiful  hymnology 
of  their  own. 

The  Magnificat  of  Mary  in  the  first  chapter 
of  Luke,  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis  of  the  heavenly 
host,  and  the  Nunc  Dimittis  of  Simeon  in  the  sec- 
ond chapter,  become  common  hymns  in  regular 
use  in  the  Church.  St,  Paul's  epistles,  as  well  as 
the  Apocalypse,  contain  fragments  of  early  hymns : 
a  beautiful  example  occurs  in  Ephesians  v.  14: 

Awake,  thou  that  sleepest, 

And  arise  from  the  dead, 

And  Christ  shall  shine  upon  thee. 

The  Te  Dewii,  now  known  only  in  its  late  Lat- 
in form  and  ascribed  to  St.  Ambrose,  was  of  sec- 
ond or  third  century  Greek  origin.  St.  Ignatius, 
according  to  tradition,  composed  antiphonies,  or 
responsive  songs,  probably  on  the  model  of  the 
antiphonal  psalms.  In  the  second  century  the 
gnostic  Bardesanes  and  his  son  Harmonius  wrote 
as  many  as  one  hundred  and  fifty  hymns  for  fes- 
tivals. Eusebius  quotes  a  writer  of  the  close  ot 
the  second  century  who,  in  the  defense  the  divin- 
ity of  Christ,  wrote  against  the  Artemonites: 
*'How  many  psalms  and  odes  of  the  Christians 
are  there  not,  which  have  been  written  from  the 
beginning  by  believers,  and  which,  in  their  theol- 
ogy, praise  Christ  as  the  Logos  of  God?"  Clem- 
ent of  Alexandria  wrote  a  notable  poem  with  this 
intention.     A  translation  of  it  begins  as  follows: 


Worship,  Ritual^  and  Observances.         237 

Bridle  of  colts  untamed, 

Over  our  wills  presiding; 
Wing  of  unwandering  birds, 

Our  flight  securely  guiding; 
Rudder  of  youth  unbending, 

Firm  against  adverse  shock; 
Shepherd,  with  wisdom  tending 

Lambs  of  the  royal  flock; 
Thy  simple  children  bring 
In  one,  that  they  may  sing 
In  solemn  lays 
Their  hymns  of  praise 
With  guileless  lips  to  Christ  their  King. 

Ephraim  the  Syrian,  adopting  the  tunes  and  me- 
ters of  the  gnostics,  composed  other  words  free 
from  heretical  teachings,  and  his  hymns  came 
into  popular  use.  Gregory  Nazianzen  was  a  pro- 
hfic  poet,  but  wrote  no  hymns  that  entered  into 
general  favor.  St.  Anatolius,  patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, did  the  most  to  make  Greek  hymnolo- 
gy  poetic  and  beautiful  for  common  use.  A  stan- 
za in  translation  of  a  hymn  on  Christ's  birth  is  as 
follows : 

While  thus  they  sing  your  Monarch, 

Those  bright  angelic  bands, 
Rejoice,  ye  vales  and  mountains! 

Ye  oceans,  clap  your  hands! 

With  the  name  of  Ambrose  some  of  the  most 
excellent  early  hymns  in  Latin  are  associated; 
but  of  the  Ambrosian  collection  only  about  ten 
or  twelve  are  now  assigned  to  him  with  certain- 
ty. The  Latin  titles  of  some  of  these — and  it 
is  well  to  know  them  by  their  classic  designation 
— are    Veni,  jRedemptor  Gentium^  Detts   Creator 


238  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Omnium,  and  j^terne  Rerum  Conditor.  They 
are  stately  in  diction  and  movement.  The  Te 
Deum  Laudamus,  the  Church's  most  celebrated 
doxology,  is  one  of  the  Ambrosian  group,  though, 
as  above  noted,  it  has  a  much  earlier  form  in 
Greek.  To  St.  Augustine  also  some  beautiful 
songs  are  attributed,  chief  of  which  are  Cum 
Rex  GloricB  Christus — a  resurrection  hymn — 
and  Ad  Perennis  Vitce  Fontem  Mens  Sitivit 
Arida,  His  acknowledgment  of  the  power  of 
church  music  over  him  is  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful passages  in  his  "Confessions":  "Nor  was 
I  satiated  in  those  da3^s  with  the  wondrous  sweet- 
ness of  considering  the  depth  of  thy  counsels 
concerning  the  salvation  of  the  human  race.  How 
greatly  did  I  weep  in  thy  h3^mns  and  canticles, 
deeply  moved  by  the  voices  of  thy  sweet-speak- 
ing Church  !  The  voices  flowed  into  mine  ears, 
and  the  truth  was  poured  forth  in  my  heart, 
whence  the  agitation  of  my  piety  overflowed,  and 
my  tears  ran  over,  and  blessed  was  I  therein." 

Other  noteworthy  hymn-writers  were  Hilary 
of  Poitiers  (died  368),  Prudentius,  most  gifted 
and  fruitful  of  early  Christian  poets  (died  405), 
Fortunatus  (died  about  600),  and  Gregory  the 
Great  (died  604).  The  beautiful  titles  of  the 
chief  hymns,  unmentioned  before,  of  this  time  run 
as  follows:  Urbs  Bcata  Jerusalem,  Ave  Marts 
Stella,  Salveic,  Flores  Martyrufn,  Pange  Lin- 
gua, Prima  Dierum  Onnnium.  One  of  the  glo- 
ries of  the  Church  is  her  golden  treasury  of  song. 


Worship,  Ritualy  and  Observances.         239 

5.  Liturgies  and  Festivals. 

In  early  Church  history  the  word  **Hturgy" 
(Greek  leiiourgia^  public  service,  worship)  de- 
notes the  form  of  service  used  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. There  are  some  four  or  five  liturgical  "fam- 
ilies," named  after  the  churches  which  originated 
and  used  them,  as  follows:  Xkio.  Palestinian^  the 
A  lexandrian ,  the  Roman ,  the  Gallican ,  and  the  Per^ 
Stan.  These  began  to  be  formed  very  early,  and 
gradually  assumed  the  elaborate  length  which  they 
now  possess.  Some  of  the  particular  liturgies,  in- 
cluded in  one  or  other  of  the  groups  named,  may  be 
as  old  as  the  second  century.  The  oldest  bear  the 
names  of  St.  Luke,  St.  James,  St.  Mark,  and  St. 
Clement.  Any  one  of  them  occupied,  perhaps, 
between  two  and  three  hours  in  its  perform- 
ance. 

The  different  parts  of  the  service  given  here 
(from  the  ''Ante-Nicene  Fathers")  will  indicate 
to  the  reader  the  elaborateness  of  early  worship. 
There  are  two  main  divisions  of  the  liturgy,  or 
service — that  before  the  lifting  up  of  the  elements 
and  that  after;  and  these  are  further  subdivided. 
The  whole  scheme  stands  z.b,  here  given; 


I. 
Liturgy  (or  Mis 
sa=Mass)     o  f  , 
THE    Catechu 

MENS. 


1.  The  Preparatory  Prayers. 

2.  The  Initial  Hymn,  or  Introit. 

3.  The  Little  Entrance. 

4.  The  Trisagion. 

5.  The  Lections. 

6.  The    Prayers   after   the  Gospel,    and 

Expulsion  of  the  Catechumens. 


240 


The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 


1.  The  Prayers  of  the  Faithful. 

2.  The  Great  Entrance. 

3.  The  Offertory. 

4.  The  Kiss  of  Peace. 

5.  The  Creed. 

1.  The  Preface. 

2.  The  Prayer  of  the  Triumphal  Hy:r\n. 

3.  The  Triumphal  Hymn. 

4.  Commemoration  of  Our  Lord':  Life. 

5.  Commemoration  of  Institutic  ^i. 

6.  Words  of  Institution  of  the  I-read. 

7.  Words  of  Institution  of  the  Wine. 
8    Oblation  of  the  Body  and  iJlood. 
9.  Introductory  Prayer  for  the  Descent 

of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

10.  Prayer  for  the  Sanctificat'.Tn  of  Ele- 
ments. 

11.  General  Intercession   for   (.)uick.  and 
Dead. 

12.  Prayer  before  the  Lord's  r.ayer. 

13.  The  Lord's  Prayer. 

14.  The  Embolismus. 

15.  The  Prayerof  Inclination. 

16.  The  Holy  Things  for  Holy  Persons. 

17.  The  Fraction 

18.  The  Confession. 

19.  The  Communion. 

20.  The     Antidoron ;     and      Prayers     of 
Thanksgiving. 

The  origin  of  the  Roman  Cathohc  mass  (missa) 
— for  each  of  the  main  divisions  of  the  service  is 
called  missa,  mass — and  indeed  of  all  liturgies,  is 
now  known  to  the  reader.  Doubtless,  however, 
to  understand  the  Christian  institution  in  its  gene- 
sis he  must  go  even  back  to  the  Mosaic  system  of 
celebrating  the  sacrifice  of  the  Passover,  as  given 
in  the  Pentateuch.     It  was,  in  reality,  a  divine  dra- 


LiTURGY  (or   Mis-   i 

SA       M  ass)   OF  -{ 

THE  Faithful,    i 


II. 
The  Great  Eu- 
charistic 
Prayer. 


The     Consecra- 
tion. 


The  Great  Ln- 
TER  cess  or  y 
Prayer. 


The    Communion. 


Worship,  Ritual,  and  Observances.         241 

ma,  and  in  essential  features  bore  a  striking  re- 
semblance to  the  Greek  Dionysian  festivals. 

The  different  vestments  of  the  several  priestly 
orders  also  originate  in  this  early  time.  They  are 
fully  described  in  the  *'ApostoHc  Constitutions  "of 
the  fourth  century.  The  alba,  or  tunic,  of  the  dea- 
con was  an  inner  white  garment,  and  originally  but 
a  workingman's  shirt.  It  developed  into  the  sur- 
plice. The  pallium  was  the  Roman  toga,  or  over- 
cloak.  It  is  now  the  pall  of  the  archbishop.  The 
miter,  now  worn  by  the  highest  Church  dignita- 
ries, was  originally  the  common  headdress  of  no- 
bles, and  later  of  peasants.  The  stole,  by  which 
name,  originally,  the  entire  dress  was  designated, 
and  later  but  the  handkerchief,  is  now  but  a  nar- 
row band  of  silk  ribbon  worn  on  the  shoulder  or 
breast  of  different  grades  of  clergy.  Both  Jewish 
and  heathen  customs  influenced  the  practice  of  the 
Church  in  the  matter  of  vestments. 

Various^rtjy5  came  early  to  be  kept.  The  first  day 
of  the  week  was  observed  earliest,  as  the  '*  Lord's 
day,"  in  commemoration  of  his  resurrection.  It 
was  a  day  of  rejoicing,  and  did  not  for  some  gen- 
erations supplant  the  Jewish  sabbath  as  a  sacred 
day  of  rest,  but  was  observed  alongside  of  that. 
Wednesday  and  Friday — the  one  in  memory  of  the 
condemnation  of  Christ,  and  the  other  in  memory 
of  his  passion — were  kept  by  fasting,  and  were 
known  as  "Station  days."  The  manner  of  keeping 
Ash  Wednesday, Passion  Week,  Good  Friday,  and 
Easter — which  was  the  first  day  of  the  new  year,  as 
16 


242  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

the  Lord's  day  was  the  first  of  the  week — is  care- 
fully described  in  the  "Apostolic  Constitutions." 
Epiphany,  Pentecost,  Whitsunday,  Palm  Sunday, 
Ascension,  and  Christmas,  were  annual  days  that 
came  early  to  be  kept  with  rejoicings.  Christmas 
is  traceable  as  far  back  as  the  fourth  century. 
The  definite  day  has  no  historical  basis.  ' '  Martyr 
days"  were  also  kept  with  festivities  at  the  tombs 
of  those  who  died  for  the  faith ;  with  festivities,  for 
the  day  of  the  martyrdom  of  a  saint  was  regarded 
as  his  birthday  to  true  life.  The  early  Church  was 
very  strict  in  the  observance  both  of  fasts  and  fes- 
tivals, both  of  which  were  exceedingly  numerous. 
They  were  educative  and  disciplinary  and  memo- 
rializing. 

6.  Saints,  Relics,  and  Miracles. 

The  worship  of  saints  and  angels  in  the  early 
Church  has  in  its  origin  a  twofold  connection:  on 
the  one  hand,  it  arose,  in  the  case  of  saint  worship, 
out  of  a  natural  but  excessive  desire  to  honor  the 
martyrs ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  it  entered  into  the 
place  formerly  occupied  by  the  worship  of  **the 
gods  many  and  lords  man}/-  "  of  the  Gentiles.  In- 
deed, the  Trinity  itself ,  in  popular  conception,  be- 
came little  better  than  a  triad  of  gods;  that  is,  it 
was  polytheism  reduced  totritheism. 

Let  us  be  reasonable,  not  to  say  charitable,  in 
judging  the  early  adherents  of  the  Christian  faith. 
The  Church  of  to-day  may  have  its  cherished  su- 
perstitions as  essential  to  its  life,    its  fancies,  as 


Worships  RiUtaJ^  and  Observances.         243 

Micah's  gods  were  of  old  to  his  welfare.  "Ye 
have  taken  away  my  gods  which  I  have  made," 
he  cries,  '*  and  what  have  I  more?  "  In  that  time 
Gideon,  we  read — Gideon,  the  mighty  man  of 
valor — broke  down  his  father's  altar  and  built  a 
new  one,  "  inthe orderly  manner.''  It  was, truly, 
a  bold  deed  and  unfilial  enough.  There  was  every- 
thing in  it  to  shock  those  who  speak  more  about 
loyalty  to  custom  than  to  truth,  and  more  about 
faithfulness  to  the  '*  Fathers  "  than  to  the  Father. 

In  the  temple  the  boy  Jesus  declared  a  higher 
loyalty  than  earth  is  entitled  to  claim  when  he  sig- 
nificantly said,  *'  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about 
my  Father's  business?  "  In  the  interest  of  a  pure 
and  true  religion,  let  error  and  superstition  be  ex- 
posed, and  let  the  idols  be  removed  out  of  the  tem- 
ple of  the  God  *'  who  ever  lives  and  loves." 

The  Christian  patron  saint,  with  whom  every 
trade  and  fraternity,  city,  sacred  place,  and  per- 
son, was  provided,  reminds  one  only  too  forcibly 
of  the  pagan  deity  and  genius  loci.  Those  heav- 
enly patrons  are  manifestly  only  the  lares  and 
■penates  of  pagan  Rome  under  a  thin  Christian  dis- 
guise. Prayers  to  the  saints,  sometimes  very  noble 
in  character,  were  offered  by  the  best  and  wisest 
of  the  Church  Fathers.  Gregory  Nazianzen  offers 
the  following  to  Athanasius:  *'Look  graciously 
down  upon  us,  and  dispose  this  people  to  be  per- 
fect worshipers  of  the  perfect  Trinit}^;  and  when 
the  times  are  quiet,  preserve  us;  when  they  are 
troubled,  remove  us  and  take  us  to  thee  in  fellow- 


244  '^^^^  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

ship."  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  Christ  himself 
would  be  invoked  differently.  For  the  saints  were 
regarded  as  intercessors  with  God,  and,  by  show- 
ing their  stigmata,  or  marks  of  martyrdom,  could, 
as  Chrysostom  says,  **  persuade  the  King  to  an}^- 
thing."  And  sa3'S  St.  Augustine:  "They  who 
have  washed  away  their  sins  by  their  own  blood 
may  pray  for  sins."  Some  truth,  therefore,  was 
in  the  charge  of  Faustus:  **  Ye  have  changed  the 
idols  into  martyrs,  whom  3'e  worship  with  the  like 
prayers,  and  ye  appease  the  shades  of  the  dead 
with  wine  and  flesh." 

Indeed,  a  Christian  mythology  speedily  grew  up 
— or,  rather,  the  old  pagan  mythology  was  in  part 
adopted  and  infused  with  Christian  ideas.  For 
example,  the  martyr  Phocas  became,  instead  of 
Castor  and  Pollux,  the  patron  of  Christian  sailors, 
who  set  aside  a  share  of  their  meal  for  him  as  a 
thank  offering.  Furthermore,  the  feasts  to  the 
gods  were  replaced  by  saints'  days  and  Christian 
festivals.  The  deification  of  men  was  common 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  therefore  it 
is  hardly  strange  that  the  ecumenical  councilors 
should  apply  the  epithet  ''  divine  "  to  Constantine 
and  other  emperors  who  championed  the  faith. 

It  may  be  presumed,  and  in  fact  is  well  es- 
tablished, that,  along  with  so  man}^  customs  of 
greater  or  less  significance,  some  ideas  were  also 
brought  over  from  heathenism  into  Christianity. 
How  could  this  fail  to  happen  at  a  time  when  most 
of  the  converts  to  the  new  faith  were  born  and 


Worshif,  RiUial^  and  Observances.         245 

bred  in  pagan  cults?  However,  there  was  advan- 
tage in  some  aspects  of  this  process  of  assimila- 
tion; for  instance,  the  pagan  custom  of  apotheo- 
sizing men  and  the  conception  of  guardian  deities 
made  belief  in  a  living,  divine  Christ  and  his  com- 
panionship and  guidance  an  easy  matter. 

Providence  has  a  wider  scope  than  is  possible 
for  human  vision  to  compass.  Pious  fraud,  super- 
stitious imagination,  and  quick  credulity  assisted 
in  bringing  the  heathen  world  to  Christ,  although 
we  cannot  justify  these  things  by  any  manner  of 
means,  nor  practice  them  with  impunity. 

To  the  custom  of  keeping  saints'  days  was  due 
the  wonderful  growth  of  legends,  which,  notwith- 
standing their  multitude  of  incredible  miracles, 
constitute  one  of  the  most  priceless  heritages  of 
the  Church.  And  from  honoring  the  memory  of 
the  saints,  together  with  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body,  arose  the  habit  of  esteeming, 
and  soon  of  worshiping,  their  relics.  In  the  Smyr- 
naeans'  account  of  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp, 
they  write:  "And  so  we  afterwards  took  up  his 
bones,  which  are  morevaluable  than  precious  stones 
and  finer  than  refined  gold,  and  laid  them  in  a 
suitable  place;  where  the  Lord  will  permit  us  to 
gather  ourselves  together,  as  we  are  able,  in  glad- 
ness and  joy,  and  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of  his 
martyrdom  for  the  commemoration  of  those  that 
have  already  fought  in  the  contest,  and  for  the 
training  and  preparation  of  those  that  shaF  do  so 
hereafter." 


246  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Here  is  the  whole  matter  as  early  as  A.D.  155. 
The  trade  in  relics  early  became  general  and  prof- 
itable, and  not  a  little  deception  was  practiced.  In 
the  year  386  Theodosius  prohibited  it  in  vain: 
the  Church  Fathers  too  generally  encouraged  it. 
Chaucer's  description  of  the  fourteenth  centur}^ 
monk  with  his  "'  pigges  bones"  is  true,  doubtless, 
for  the  priest  of  the  fourth  century.  The  use  of 
these  rehcs  as  ornaments  and  amulets  was  very 
common,  and  the  attribution  of  healing  virtue  to 
them  was  well-nigh  universal.  Augustine  asserts 
that  seventy  well-attested  cures  were  effected  in 
Hippo.  Jerome  and  others  of  like  eminence  testify 
to  many  other  miracles  thus  wrought,  as  curing  the 
blind  and  raising  the  dead.  The  careful  student 
of  those  times  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Church  Fathers  were  lacking  in  some  respects  in 
a  sense  of  truth,  and  that  the  age  was  character- 
ized by  **  pious  fraud"  and  almost  incredible  cre- 
dulity. The  all-justifying  motto  seemed  to  he,  Ad 
Tnajoram  Dei  gloriam . 

The  Scriptures,  it  cannot  be  denied,  afford  am- 
ple ground  for  belief  in  miracles  wrought  through 
the  agency  of  relics.  EHsha's  bones  impart  life  to 
the  dead  man  cast  in  his  tomb  upon  them.  The 
touch  of  Jesus'  garment  heals  the  issue  of  blood. 
Even  Peter's  shadow  is  said  to  have  had  a  healing 
efficacy ;  and  handkerchiefs  and  aprons  that  Paul 
has  used  cure  many  sick. 

Chapels  are  therefore  built  at  the  tombs  of  mar- 
tyrs, and  the  sick  of  all  manner  of  diseases   are 


Worship,  RiUiaU  cind  Observances.         247 

brought  thither  as  formerly  they  were  brought  to 
the  temple  of  ^sculapius.  *'  Superstition!  "  we 
may  exclaim,  but  this  faith  in  that  age  afforded  the 
only  balm  for  earth-worn  bodies  as  also  for  earth- 
wounded  spirits.  Besides,  the  Church  is  a  univer- 
sally educative  institution.  It  takes  into  its  train- 
ing the  barbarian  and  the  Greek  as  well  as  the  Jew, 
the  foolish  and  simple  as  well  as  the  wise  and 
learned,  the  young  as  well  as  the  old  ;  it  must  train 
all.  It  takes  not  the  perfect,  but  the  imperfect,  to 
discipline,  educate,  and  develop  to  higher  modes 
of  thought  and  life.  As  long  as  it  advances  it  will 
outgrow  the  uses  of  certain  methods,  doctrines, 
and  institutions,  which  once  served  an  excellent 
purpose. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

1.  "Christian  Institutions,"  by  Dean  Stanley,  is  a  readable 
and  instructive  book  that  treats  of  many  topics  of  the  foregoing 
chapter. 

2.  A.  V.  G.  Allen's  "Christian  Institutions,"  in  the  "Inter- 
national Theological  Library,''  is  a  fascinating  book.  The  two 
books  go  well  together. 


MONASTICISM. 


"MoNASTiciSM  had  stood  for  the  idea  that  human  salvation 
was  not  a  mechanical  process  by  which  the  collective  mass  of 
humanity,  within  the  communion  of  the  Church,  was  to  be 
lifted  by  no  effort  of  its  own  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  was 
a  protest  in  behalf  of  the  truth,  which  in  the  Middle  Ages  most 
needed  to  be  emphasized,  that  salvation  demands  the  activity  of 
all  the  faculties  of  one's  being.  In  this  aspect  Monasticism  was 
the  assertion  of  the  truth  of  individual  responsibility.  It  de- 
clined as  an  institution  because  of  the  fearful  perversion  of 
which  it  had  been  guilty — the  abuse  which  it  had  heaped  on 
things  most  divine,  the  neglect  with  which  it  had  treated  a  large 
range  of  human  duties  and  relationships,  whose  right  discharge 
is  essential  to  the  fullest  salvation  of  man.  But  it  did  not  de- 
cline till  the  truth  which  it  had  conserved — the  principle  of  in- 
dividualism— had  been  acknowledged  as  the  basis  of  the  com- 
ing reform." — A.  V.  G.  Allen. 

(250) 


CHAPTER  XII. 

MONASTICISM. 

"  In  the  world,  but  not  worldly." 

"  In  hopes  to  merit  heaven  by  making  earth  a  hell." 

"They  were  strangers  to  the  world,  but  friends  to  God." 

—  Thomas  h  Kemfis. 
"And  the  light  shineth  in  the  darkness;  and  the  darkness 
overcame  it  not." — St.  John. 

I.  Origin,  Spirit,  and  Aim. 

The  institution  of  Monasticism  has  been  fre- 
quently spoken  of  in  the  foregoing  pages.  It  is 
now  time  to  narrate  more  fully  its  history,  and  to 
describe  at  length  its  nature  and  significance.  Al- 
though not  a  Christian  institution  in  its  origin,  yet 
so  thoroughly  was  it  taken  up  by  the  disciples  of 
Him  who  tauc^ht  self-renunciation  as  the  first  law 
of  life,  that  it  became  from  the  third  to  the  fif- 
teenth century  the  most  conspicuous  and  signifi- 
cant fact  of  Christendom.  Both  as  regards  the 
inner  and  outer  life  of  the  Church — its  moral  and 
educational  functions,  its  civilizing  agencies,  and 
its  material  prosperity — its  influences  and  its 
achievements  of  every  kind,  Monasticism  was  the 
efficient  spirit  and  agency.  And  the  fruits  were 
both  good  and  evil,  with  the  main  emphasis  upon 
**good." 

To  the  student  of  history  it  is  a  familiar  fact  in 
various  religions  of  the  ancient  world,  notably  in 

(250 


252  Th  e  Ch  u  rch  of  th  e  jFa  th  ers . 

the  faith  of  the  Brahmans  of  India,  as  described  in 
the  old  *' Vedas" — the  psalms  of  that  people;  and 
later,  in  the  same  country,  in  the  worship  of  Gau- 
tama Buddha,  the  **  Light  of  Asia";  and  also  in 
Egypt  in  the  later  developments  of  their  extraor- 
dinary cults.  In  the  time  of  Christ,  the  most  nota- 
ble exhibition  of  monastic  life  and  the  most  signifi- 
cant for  Christianity,  was  with  the  Essenes,  one  of 
the  three  sects  of  the  Jews. 

Josephus  writes  an  interesting  chapter  concern- 
ing this  very  interesting  sect.  The  noteworthy 
features  of  their  practice  are  these:  Communism, 
all  property,  even  food  and  clothing,  being  held 
in  common;  extreme  simplicity  of  life,  their  com- 
mon occupation  being  husbandry ;  a  strict  tem- 
perance in  all  things,  which,  though  not  asceticism, 
yet  tended  thereto ;  contempt  for  the  body  as  a 
prison  house  of  the  spirit,  and  doomed  to  perish 
forever.  Their  repudiation  of  oaths  and  of  mar- 
riage, of  trade  and  slavery,  of  all  animal  sacrifices, 
and  of  any  priesthood  whatsoever,  was  a  remark- 
able anticipation  of  the  ethical  and  ascetic  princi- 
ples which  became  the  rule  of  life  for  millions  of 
Christians.  What  was  their  aim?  ''It  was  the 
higher  illumination,  the  reception  of  revelations 
especially  by  dream  visions,  which  they  sought 
in  this  way  to  attain." 

Influences  from  Parseeism,  from  Buddhism,  and 
from  Pythagoreanism — all  of  which  contain  strik- 
ingly similar  elements — are  supposed  by  different 
historians  to  have  entered  into  Pharisaism,  and, 


Afonasitcism .  253 

working  together  with  tendencies  already  in  opera- 
tion, to  have  produced  Essenism ;  a  higher  out- 
come both  ethically  and  spiritually.  These  di- 
verse influences  are  certainly  known  to  have  been 
potent  in  Palestine  from  at  least  the  beginning  of 
the  second  century  B.C.,  and  it  was  about  the 
middle  of  this  century  that  the  Essenes  arose.  It 
was  toward  the  close  of  the  first  century  A.D. 
that  Josephus  wrote.  Their  influence  upon  Chris- 
tian life  and  customs  is  a  disputed  matter.  The 
unity  of  spirit — indicating  a  general  tendency  of 
ardently  religious  natures — is  the  only  fact  desired 
here  to  be  established  by  these  examples  of  asceti- 
cism. 

It  was  in  Egypt,  the  mother  of  religions,  as  well 
of  arts  and  sciences,  that  Christian  Monasticism 
had  its  rise:  it  was  there,  it  should  be  noted,  that 
the  Therapeutas  dwelt — the  most  ascetic  branch  of 
the  Essenes.  Of  some  of  the  first  Christian  her- 
mits of  note  we  have  interesting  early  biographies: 
the  lives  of  Sts.  Paul,  Hilarion,  and  Malchus,  by 
Jerome;  of  St.  Anthony,  by  Athanasius;  of  St. 
Martin  of  Tours,  by  Gregory;  indeed,  of  a  larger 
number  there  are  memorials  dating  from  an  early 
time.  The  historians  Socrates  and  Sozomen  give 
us  accounts  of  the  origin  and  progress,  the  customs 
and  aims,  of  monk  life. 

A  zealot  by  the  name  of  Paul,  in  the  third  cen- 
tury, in  Egypt,  was  the  first  to  seek  the  solitude  of 
the  desert  to  dwell  as  a  hermit.  "  He  was  heir," 
says  Jerome,  "to  a  rich  inheritance,  highly  skilled 


254  '^^^^  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

in  both  Greek  and  Egyptian  learning,  gifted  with 
a  gentle  disposition  and  a  deep  love  for  God. 
Amid  the  thunders  of  persecution,  he  retired  to 
a  house  at  a  considerable  distance  and  in  a  more 
secluded  spot. 

Anthony  came  soon  after.  Of  him  the  same 
biographer  writes:  ''The  blessed  Paul  had  al- 
ready lived  on  earth  the  life  of  heaven  for  a  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  years,  and  Anthony  at  the  age 
of  ninety  was  dwelling  in  another  place  of  solitude 
(as  he  himself  was  wont  to  declare),  when  the 
thought  occurred  to  the  latter  that  no  monk  more 
perfect  than  himself  had  settled  in  the  desert. 
However,  in  the  stillness  of  the  night  it  was  re- 
vealed to  him  that  there  was,  further  in  the  desert, 
a  much  better  man  than  he,  and  that  he  ought  to 
go  and  visit  him.  So  then  at  break  of  day  the 
venerable  old  man,  supporting  and  guiding  his 
weak  limbs  with  a  staff,  started  to  go;  but  what 
direction  to  choose  he  knew  not.  Scorching  noon- 
tide came,  with  a  broihng  sun  overhead,  but  still 
he  did  not  suffer  himself  to  be  turned  from  the 
journey  he  had  begun.  Said  he,  'I  believe  in  my 
God:  some  time  or  other  he  will  show  me  the  fel- 
low-servant whom  he  promised  me.'  He  said  no 
more.  All  at  once  he  beholds  a  creature  of  min- 
gled shape — half  horse,  half  man — called  by  the 
poets  Hippo-centaur." 

The  reader  must  be  prepared,  in  perusing  these 
early  "lives,"  for  the  most  marvelous  marvels  im- 
aginable.    Anthony,  near  the  end  of  his  journey. 


Monastic  is7n ,  255 

had  already  the  privilege  of  seeing  the  blessed 
Paul  "in  robes  of  snowy  white  ascending  on  high 
among  the  bands  of  angels  and  the  choirs  of 
prophets  and  apostles. ' '  Two  lions  helped  him  dig 
the  grave  and  bury  the  body,  coming  to  him  at 
the  end  of  their  task  and  fawning  for  a  blessing. 
The  conclusion  of  this  narrative  is  interesting: 
"I  beseech  you,  reader,  whoever  you  may  be,  to 
remember  Jerome,  the  sinner.  Fie,  if  God  would 
give  him  his  choice,  would  much  sooner  take  Paul's 
tunic  with  his  merits  than  the  purple  of  kings  with 
their  punishment." 

Anthony,  as  Athanasius  relates,  dwelt  first  in  a 
tomb  in  the  desert,  where  he  was  harassed  by 
devils  and  annoyed  by  gathering  multitudes  emu- 
lous to  follow  his  example.  He  removed  further 
from  the  habitations  of  men  and  took  up  his  abode 
in  an  old  abandoned  fort,  where  "he  employed  a 
long  time  in  training  himself,  and  received  loaves 
let  down  from  above  twice  in  the  year." 

The  spirit  and  motives  of  this  life  will  be  amply 
set  forth  by  an  extract  from  a  discourse  of  An- 
thony's when  ,his  acquaintances  sought  him  out 
in  the  old  fort:  "Why,  then,  should  we  not  give 
them  up  for  virtue's  sake,  that  we  may  inherit 
even  a  kingdom?  Therefore  let  the  desire  of 
possession  take  hold  of  no  one,  for  what  gain  is 
it  to  acquire  these  things  which  we  cannot  take 
with  us?  Why  not  rather  get  those  things  which 
we  can  take  away  with  us,  to  wit,  prudence,  jus- 
tice, temperance,    courage,    understanding,   love. 


256  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

kindness  to  the  poor,  faith  in  Christ,  freedom 
from  wrath,  hospitahty?  If  we  possess  these,  we 
shall  find  them  of  themselves  preparing  for  us 
a  welcome  there  in  the  land  of  the  meek-hearted. 
.  For  the  Lord  aforetime  hath  said,  '  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you.'  Wherefore 
virtue  hath  need  at  our  hands  of  willingness  alone, 
since  it  is  in  us  and  is  formed  from  us.  For  when 
the  soul  hath  its  spiritual  faculty  in  a  natural  state, 
virtue  is  formed.  And  it  is  in  a  natural  state  when 
it  remains  as  it  came  into  existence.  And  when 
it  came  into  existence  it  was  fair  and  exceeding 
honest." 

It  was  "spiritual  knowledge"  and  the  *' philos- 
ophy of  deeds,"  as  Socrates  expresses  it,  that  the 
hermits  sought.  Their  lives,  according  to  his 
conception,  were  truly  apostolic;  and  undoubted- 
ly those  doctrines  just  quoted  are  very  wise.  They 
are  worthy  of  the  best  mind  of  the  Reformation. 

Attention  has  been  called  in  a  foregoing  chap- 
ter to  the  fact  that  Monasticism,  like  Montanism 
of  an  earlier  day,  was  m  a  measure  a  reaction 
against  a  growing  spirit  of  ecclesiasticism,  ritual- 
ism, and  sacerdotalism.  The  monks  sought  im- 
mediate intercourse  with  God  without  the  aid  of 
church,  altar,  priest,  or  sacrament.  Formalism 
9.nd  ritualism  were  rejected ;  the  spirit,  the  pow- 
er, and  the  life  were  sought  in  an  independent 
way.  They  reverted  to  apostolic  simplicity.  And 
so  did  the  reformers  ten  centuries  later.  Tran- 
quillity was  the  state  desired — peace  that  should 


Monasticism .  257 

allow  the  virtues  of  temperance,  patience,  and  love 
opportunity  to  grow.  "  One  of  the  brethren,"  says 
Socrates,  *'who  possessed  nothing  but  a  copy  of 
the  gospels,  sold  it  and  distributed  the  price  in 
food  to  the  hungry,  uttering  this  memorable  say- 
ing: *I  have  sold  the  book  which  says.  Sell  that 
thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor.'  "  **My  book," 
once  said  Anthony  to  a  wondering  philosopher 
who  had  visited  him,  ''my  book  is  the  nature  of 
things  that  are  made,  and  it  is  present  whenever  I 
wish  to  read  the  words  of  God." 

That  these  hermits,  at  least  the  best  or  them, 
were  not  seeking  heaven  in  a  selfish  way,  enough 
has  been  given  to  prove.  ''That  pillar  of  truth, 
Basil  of  Cappadocia,"  remarked  Socrates,  "used 
to  say  that  '  the  knowledge  which  men  teach  is 
perfected  by  constant  study  and  exercise ;  but  that 
which  proceeds  from  the  grace  of  God,  by  the 
practice  of  justice,  patience,  and  mercy.'  " 

The  monks  v^ere  first  organized  into  a  commu- 
nity to  be  trained  by  Pachomius,  in  the  island  of 
Tabenna  in  the  Thebaid.  An  angel,  so  Sozomen 
relates,  appeared  to  this  hermit- saint  and  gave 
him  the  command  to  this  end  and  a  tablet,  "which 
is  still  carefully  preserved,"  whereon  were  writ- 
ten the  rules  that  should  govern  the  order.  The 
monks  were  to  wear  sleeveless  tunics,  cowls,  and 
girdles,  each  of  which  garments  had  its  special 
significance;  in  these  they  were  to  sleep  in  re- 
clining chairs,  expressive  of  their  readiness  for 
immediate  service  when  called.  They  were  to  eat 
17 


258  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

in  a  common  refectory,  silent  and  veiled.  They 
partook  of  the  communion  on  the  first  and  last 
days  of  the  week;  they  prayed  twelve  times  in 
the  day,  and  an  equal  number  of  times  in  the 
night. 

From  Egypt  Monasticism  spread  into  Palestine. 
It  was  there  that  Hilarion,  inflamed  by  the  desire 
to  emulate  St.  Anthony,  went  into  the  dangers  of 
solitude,  '' despising  death  that  he  might  escape 
death,"  says  Jerome.  Soon  he  too  had  many 
zealous  imitators,  and  the  wilderness  became  a 
populous  city. 

In  Syria  the  movement  is  shortly  after  led  by 
Ephraim,  "the  prophet  of  the  Syrians."  He 
gave  not  only  the  first  impulse  to  the  movement 
there,  but  he  determined  the  language  of  Monas- 
ticism in  all  countries.  He  was  a  copious  writer 
both  in  verse  and  prose,  and  a  sort  of  poetic  mys- 
ticism, akin  to  that  of  the  gnostics,  was  allied  in 
him  with  the  most  rigid  orthodoxy.  He  was  just 
of  the  nature  to  give  the  institution  of  Monasti- 
cism, already  implanted  in  his  country  and  find- 
ing there  a  congenial  soil,  an  impetus  and  charac- 
ter which  should  be  perpetual.  ''With  this  imag- 
inative turn,"  says  Dean  Milman,  ''were  mingled 
a  depth  and  intensity  of  feeling  which  gave  him 
his  peculiar  influence  over  the  kindred  minds  of 
his  countrymen.  Tears  were  as  natural  to  him  as 
perspiration ;  day  and  night,  in  his  devout  seclu- 
sion, he  wept  for  the  sins  of  mankind  and  for  his 
own.     His  very  writings,  it  was  said,  weep;  there 


Monastic  isiii.  259 

is  a  deep  and  latent  sorrow  even  in  his  panegyrics, 
or  festival  homilies."  Out  of  such  a  nature  rose 
Monasticism.  The  poetic  bent  and  tender  melan- 
choly of  his  nature  are  not  to  be  overlooked.  As 
a  song-v^riter  he  is  called  "the  guitar  of  the  Holy 
Ghost";  as  a  preacher  he  possessed  a  fervid  and 
effective  eloquence. 

By  Jerome,  as  we  have  seen,  the  doctrines  and 
practice  of  Monasticism  were  brought  to  the  cap- 
ital of  the  West;  and  by  John  Cassian,  who  was 
educated  in  Syria,  and  by  Sts.  Martin  and  Hilary 
it  was  planted  in  Gaul,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
fourth  century.  What  were  the  conditions  v/hich 
caused  Monasticism  to  spread  so  rapidly  and  flour- 
ish so  vigorously? 

2.  The  Barbarian  Invasions. 

The  story  of  the  barbarian  invasions  must  be 
told,  albeit  but  hurriedly,  that  we  may  appreciate 
the  history  of  the  Church  in  this  period.  For  all 
its  tasks  were  imposed,  all  its  policies  and  institu- 
tions were  determined,  by  the  new  conditions  which 
resulted  from  or  attended  the  breaking  up  of  the 
ancient  foundations  and  the  removal  of  the  ancient 
landmarks  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  the  forma- 
tion of  new  states  out  of  the  warlike  and  roving 
tribes  of  the  North. 

In  the  days  of  the  republic,  while  the  thought 
of  Rome's  decline  was  as  remote  from  the  mind  of 
her  citizens  as  that  of  the  end  of  the  world,  the 
Celtic  barbarians — the  Kymri  and  the  Belg^ — had 


26o  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

not  only  stood  upon  the  Alps  in  picturesque  and 
savage  grandeur,  looking  down  upon  tlie  fair  fields 
of  Italy  with  plunderous  intent,  but  not  less  pictur- 
esquely and  with  terror  to  the  Romans  had  turned 
their  ox-hide  shields  into  toboggans,  and  coasted 
with  savage  merriment  dow^n  the  snow-clad  Alpine 
slopes — fair-haired,  giant  w^arriors,  untutored,  un- 
degenerate  children  of  the  forest — children  in  all 
but  brawn  and  bone.  But  Caesar's  cohorts  in 
Gaul  and  along  the  Rhine  had  made  the  name  of 
Rome  terrible  to  these  children  of  the  forest,  and 
Rome  v/ith  her  garrisons  upon  the  frontiers  had 
rested  for  centuries  in  safety  from  their  invasions. 
But  her  decline  and  her  hoarded  w^ealth — the 
spoils  of  so  many  conquests — could  not  forever  re- 
main unknown  to  the  restless  tribes  of  the  popu- 
lous North;  for  there  were  many  barbarians  in  the 
imperial  armies,  some  holding  high  official  rank. 

In  the  year  375  occurred  the  first  notable  inva- 
sion in  the  era  of  Christianity.  It  was  the  Visi- 
goths, a  numerous  and  powerful  tribe  of  Teutons, 
from  beyond  the  Danube  ;  whence  southward  they 
were  driven,  by  fierce  and  still  more  numerous 
Tartar  hordes  from  the  steppes  of  Asia.  This 
Gothic  nation,  w^ith  all  their  belongings,  their 
wives  and  children,  and  live  stock,  coming  to  the 
Danube,  entreated  the  Romans  for  shelter  and  for 
lands  on  which  to  dwell  under  Roman  protection. 
Valens,  "  low-born,  cruel,  and  covetous,"  was  em- 
peror. 

On    condition   of   their  changing  their  type  cf 


Monasttcism.  261 

Christianity,  which  was  Arian,  they  were  permitted 
to  find  settlement  in  Roman  territory.  Those  who 
were  set  to  count  them  as  they  crossed  the  river 
gave  up  the  impossible  task.  Tall,  stalwart,  and 
well  formed,  with  neck  and  arms  encircled  by 
gold  and  silver  rings,  with  shirts  of  chain  mail,  and 
enormous  helmets  surmounted  by  plumes,  bison 
horns,  towers,  and  images  of  dragons  and  wild 
boars,  this  proud  and  powerful  host  was  soon  not 
to  be  the  suppliant  of  Rome  but  the  conqueror. 
For  it  was  not  long  ere  their  haughty  masters  be- 
gan to  subject  them  to  ill  treatment,  and  it  was  then 
their  proud,  free  spirit  rose  in  rebellion.  They 
swept  the  country,  laid  waste  the  fields,  and  plun- 
dered the  towns.  Then  they  met  the  Romans  on 
the  field  of  battle,  and  with  their  heavy  swords  and 
long  lances  put  to  rout  and  destro3^ed  tw^o-thirds  of 
the  imperial  army,  slew  generals  without  number, 
and  burned  the  emperor. 

Now  followed  out  of  the  North  wave  after  wave 
of  the  mighty  deluge  which  was  to  continue  near- 
ly two  hundred  years  pouring  southward.  First, 
in  the  year  395,  in  midwinter,  comes  another 
horde  of  Visigoths  under  Alaric,  an  indomitable 
chief,  without  opposition.  They  cross  the  Danube 
on  the  ice,  pour  first  down  through  Greece,  pass- 
ing Thermopylae  unchecked,  capturing  Athens, 
Corinth,  and  Sparta,  and  in  the  year  410,  in  their 
career  of  easy  conquest,  take  the  city  of  Rome. 
For  five  days  and  nights  the  city  is  given  up  to  pil- 
lage, and  its  inhabitants  to  slaughter.     Only  the 


262  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

Christians  and  their  temples — a  fact  made  much 
use  of  by  St.  Augustine  in  his  "City  of  God" — 
were  respected  and  spared. 

Again  out  of  the  North,  "  the  land  of  night  and 
wonder  and  the  terrible  unknown,"  the  Goths  are 
followed  by  the  Huns  under  Attila,  **the  scourge 
of  God."  This  was  in  the  year  451.  We  have  a 
description  of  his  Mongol  and  mongrel  horde  of 
six  hundred  thousand  followers.  Of  Asiatic  origin 
and  Mongolian  type,  they  were  pig-eyed,  cake- 
faced,  wore  rat-skin  caps,  and  clung  like  cats  to 
their  horses,  which  were  impressively  adorned  with 
human  scalps.  On  horseback  they  ate,  slept, 
marketed,  plundered,  and  lived:  a  host  "innumer- 
able as  locusts,"  wild  as  red  Indians,  only  painted 
blue,  and  dressed  not  in  the  skins  of  savage  beasts 
but  of  human  beings.  Armed  with  bows  and  ar- 
rows, lassos  and  scythes,  they  struck  terror  to 
every  heart.  They  devastated  the  Roman  empire 
to  the  gates  of  the  city  itself;  why  that  was  spared 
is  a  mystery  never  yet  explained.  History  has  only 
this  to  say :  Pope  Leo ,  a  great  and  good  man,  '  *  met 
the  wild  heathen  :  a  sacred  horror  fell  upon  Attila, 
and  he  turned  and  went  his  way  to  die  a  year  or 
two  after,  no  man  knows  how." 

The  Huns  are  followed  in  455  by  the  Vandals. 
They  have  given  our  language  a  word  which  tells 
their  story:  vandalism.  Under  Genseric,  almost 
before  the  grass  had  begun  to  grow  again  where 
Attila's  horse  had  trod,  Italy  is  again  swept  as  by 
a  blasting  simoon,  and  the  eternal  city   is    again 


Moiiasticisni.  263 

plundered — for  fourteen  days.  The  pillage  this 
time  is  complete.  Gold,  jewels,  and  art  treasures, 
the  heaped-up  wealth  of  ages,  are  carried  off; 
among  all,  the  golden  table  and  the  seven-branched 
candlestick  which  Titus  had  brought  from  Jerusa- 
lem when  he  destroyed  that  city,  A.D.  70,  are 
shipped  away  into  Africa,  to  be  heard  of  no  more. 
Sixty  thousand  prisoners  are  carried  away  to  Car- 
thage. War,  famine,  and  pestilence  wholly  de- 
populated Rome.  It  is  indeed  said  that  the  city 
was  left  without  a  single  inhabitant. 

And  thus  horde  after  horde  of  barbarians, 
crowded  on  by  one  another,  press  down  out  of  the 
frozen  North,  Teutons  and  Tartars,  Goths  and 
Alans,  Franks  and  Burgunds,  Huns  and  Vandals, 
and  for  a  longer  time  than  our  country  has  had  ex- 
istence, plunder  and  devastate  the  fair  fields  and 
populous  cities  of  the  South,  leaving  behind,  says 
Jerome,  after  the  first  invasion,  ''no  living  thing 
but  brambles  and  thick  forests." 

The  Church  lived  through  this  deluge  of  barbari- 
anism ;  lived  through  it  to  subdue  the  savage  races, 
and  build  on  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  cities  the  ''City 
of  God."  How  did  it  meet  the  situation?  The  an- 
swer is.  By  the  institution  of  Monasticism. 

3.  The  Service  of  Monasticism. 

From  this  picture  of  the  times,  though  altogether 
too  meager,  we  are  able  to  give  some  idea  of  the 
cause  of  the  rise  and  rapid  spread  of  this  institution. 
To  understand  its  raison  d'et7'e,  the  cause  of  its 


264  The  CJmrch  of  the  Pathers. 

existence  and  influence,  its  wonderful  popularity 
and  unparalleled  power  as  an  institution,  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  us  to  be  acquainted  with  the 
general  conditions  of  the  times.  Monasticism  was 
called  into  existence,  not  only  by  a  certain  mode  of 
thinking — namely,  that  earth  must  be  made  a  hell, 
that  heaven  may  be  won — but  by  a  deeper  wisdom 
which  worked  at  the  heart  of  the  Church,  teaching 
her  the  secret  of  influence  over  a  corrupt,  pampered , 
and  decadent  race  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  new,  un- 
tamed, and  bloodthirsty  people  on  the  other  hand. 

There  was  the  Roman  world  given  over  to  luxu- 
rious and  sensual  living,  to  gormandizing,  lasciv- 
lousness,  and  general  debauchery.  There  was 
also  the  barbarian  world  as  much  wanting  in  self- 
restraint  as  regarded  other  appetites,  and  all  too 
quickly  a  prey  to  the  destructive  vices  of  the  cul- 
tured but  corrupt  nations  of  the  South.  Drunken- 
ness was  always  their  besetting  sin,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  wine-cellars  of  Italy  were  their  greatest 
foes.  The  lesson  of  self-restraint  was  therefore  of 
supreme  necessity  to  the  world  in  that  age.  And 
it  could  be  taught  then  only  as  at  any  other  time — 
that  is,  by  such  examples  as  would  be  strangely  im- 
pressive. Hence,  the  extreme  abstemiousness  of 
the  devout  Christians. 

Another  fact  of  the  inward  condition  of  the 
Church  itself  is  to  be  borne  in  mind.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  union  between  Church  and  State, 
and  so  of  the  multitudinous  and  promiscuous  in- 
gathering of  heathens  into  the  former,  often  by 


Monastics  sm,  265 

force  of  arms,  the  Church  became  filled  with  an 
unregenerate  horde,  a  mass  almost  totally  unpre« 
pared  for  obedience  to  ordinances  and  teachings. 
When  it  was  no  uncommon  occurrence  for  an  en- 
tire army  to  be  converted  by  defeat  and  to  receive 
baptism  by  thousands,  what  else  could  be  expected 
than  the  invasion  of  heathen  practices  and  gross 
immoralities  into  the  institution  which  requires  a 
changed  mind  and  a  pure  heart  ?  So  great  had  be- 
come the  luxury  of  the  clergy  even  that  a  Roman 
senator,  Prsetextus,  said  to  Pope  Damasus  (fourth 
century),  *'Make  me  a  bishopof  Rome,  and  I  will 
be  a  Christian  to-morrow."  The  Church  was  sec- 
ularized and  corrupted:  a  powerful  reform  move- 
ment was  needed,  enthusiasm  for  purity  and  god- 
liness, impressive  lives  of  self-restraint  and  of  spir- 
itual aspiration. 

Extravagant,  irrational,  and  positively  repulsive 
examples  of  self-mortification  no  doubt  occur.  By 
these  the  institution  is  too  liable  to  be  remembered 
and  judged.  Let  us  look  deeper,  penetrating  to 
the  spirit;  let  us  weigh  the  service  rendered;  let 
us  be  mindful  of  the  conditions  of  the  time. 

It  is  in  the  desert  land  of  Egypt,  under  the  burn- 
ing tropics,  that  Monasticism  presents  itself  under 
the  most  forbidding  and  reprehensible  aspects. 
Their  self-denial  was  carried  to  the  extent  of  filthi- 
ness  and  worse  than  beastliness.  A  few  illustra- 
tions may  be  instanced.  St.  Anthony,  most  hon- 
ored of  all,  eschewed  the  use  of  clean  water.  St. 
Macarius,  having  killed  a  gnat  which  was  stinging 


266  .  The  Church  of  the  Feathers. 

him,  punished  himself  by  sleeping  naked  in  a  marsh 
where  he  was  covered  with  venomous  flies.  St. 
Bessarion  slept  forty  days  and  nights  in  the  midst 
of  thorn-bushes.  St.  Abraham  refused  during  fif- 
ty years  to  wash  either  face  or  feet.  St.  Arsenius 
changed  the  water  he  used  in  weaving  his  baskets 
of  rushes  but  once  a  year.  Some  ate  only  rotten 
corn,  others  walled  themselves  up  so  they  could 
neither  sit  nor  lie  down.  Yet  others  dwelt  sum- 
mer and  winter  on  the  top  of  high  pillars,  hence 
were  called  "  pillar  saints  "  (cf.  Tennyson's  *'  St. 
Simeon  Stylites"). 

The  vast  number  of  monks  is  another  consider- 
ation not  to  be  overlooked.  The  hermits  increased 
with  such  rapidity  that  seclusion  in  the  desert  be- 
came impossible;  from  being  hermits,  or"  monks," 
— that  is,  solitaires  in  the  desert — they  became  in- 
habitants of  populous  communities.  Hence,  Mo- 
nasticism  became  an  organized  institution,  number- 
ing immense  multitudes.  One  community  in  Egypt 
counted  as  many  as  twenty  thousand  monks  and 
ten  thousand  nuns.  Their  wildness  and  fanati- 
cism often  became  ungovernable  and  destructive. 
Because  of  their  boasted  ignorance  and  frenzied 
enthusiasm,  at  times  they  were  converted  into  dan- 
gerous mobs,  being  as  ferocious  as  any  savages 
that  ever  came  out  of  the  desert  or  jungle.  Charles 
Kingsley  in  his  "  Hypatia"  gives  a  faithful  picture 
of  the  times.  In  their  madness  for  orthodoxy  they 
deposed  and  set  up  bishops,  and  by  clamor  decided 
what  was  true  doctrine  and  what  was  false.     This 


Monasticism .  267 

was  the  turning  of  the  pure  water  of  life  of  Chris- 
tianity into  the  all-absorbing  sands  of  the  desert. 

One  act  of  heroism,  however,  goes  far  toward 
redeeming  this  entire  waste  of  life,  so  enormous 
and  insane  as  it  appears  to  us.  The  possibilities 
of  this  self-enjoined  discipline,  had  not  the  civili- 
zation of  Africa  been  destroyed  first  by  the  Van- 
dals and  then  by  the  Mohammedans,  are  splen- 
didly shown  by  the  moral  and  physical  courage  of 
the  monk  Telemachus.  The  story  runs  that  while 
the  gladiatorial  shows  at  Rome  were  in  progress 
this  monk  came  from  Africa,  and,  appearing  in  the 
arena,  threw  himself  between  the  combatants,  and 
so  sacrificed  his  life  to  prevent  the  deadly  combat. 
His  protest  against  the  inhumanity  of  this  heathen 
custom,  which  has  been  continued  under  Christian 
emperors,  was  so  impressive  that  it  resulted  in  for- 
ever putting  a  stop  to  gladiatorial  combats  in  Rome. 
This  deed  of  Telemachus  helps  to  reconcile  us  to 
the  irrational  austerity  and  fanatical  self-slaughter. 

Monasticism  in  Europe,  as  an  organized  com- 
munal institution,  begins  with  St.  Benedict  of 
Nursia,  in  the  mountains  of  Italy.  The  son  of  a 
noble  family,  while  yet  a  boy  he  sought  out  a  cave 
in  the  Apennines  and  devoted  himself  to  penance, 
fasting,  and  prayers.  His  saintliness  was  evinced 
to  the  world  by  miracles — the  usual  way.  It  was 
impossible  for  his  retreat  to  remain  hidden  or  his 
solitude  unbroken.  His  example  drew  a  multitude 
into  the  mountains,  zealous  to  emulate  his  piety. 
After  living  the  hermit  life  for  thirty-six  years,  he 


268  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

came  forth  from  his  retreat  and  founded  the  mon- 
astery of  Monte  Casino  (  A.D.  529),  and  there  cre- 
ated the  order  of  Benedictines.  Out  of  the  regime 
of  his  own  Hfe  he  drew  the  rules  of  his  order, 
which,  as  they  are  typical,  we  may  pause  to  note. 
Altogether  they  occupy  seventy-three  chapters, 
and  they  have  continued  unaltered  for  thirteen 
centuries.  They  fall  under  three  heads,  and  per- 
tain respectively  to  the  keeping  of  the  threefold 
vow  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience.  The 
vow  of  poverty  required  the  relinquishment  of  all 
private  possessions;  all  things,  as  in  the  early  ex- 
periment of  the  ApostoHc  Church,  were  held  in 
common.  The  vow  of  chastity  required  the  re- 
linquishment of  all  family  connections  whatsoever; 
while  the  vow  of  obedience  required  the  most  abso- 
lute self-surrender  to  the  commands  of  the  order. 

Steady,  genuine,  useful  work  was  the  noble  aim 
of  the  Benedictine  monastery,  and  its  rules  were 
all  founded  to  this  end.  Its  motto,  indeed,  was, 
'■'Lahorare  est  or  are.''  Their  day  was  divided  as 
follows :  the  equal  time  of  seven  hours  was  devoted 
to  prayer,  to  manual  labor,  and  to  sleep;  of  the 
three  remaining  hours,  two  were  devoted  to  study 
and  one  to  meditation;  they  ate  but  two  meals  a 
day.  They  slept  in  dormitories,  ten  or  twelve 
monks  in  each ;  at  two  in  the  morning  they  arose 
for  vigils,  and  at  sunrise  for  matins.  Monte  Cas- 
sino  became  a  thriving  little  town  of  gardens, 
houses,  and  shops.  Unfortunately,  the  most  of 
our  information  regarding  the  monasteries  belongs 


Monasticism.  269 

to  their  later  history  after  they  had  become  wealthy 
and  corrupt.  In  their  earlier  days  they  were  no 
doubt  the  homes  of  piety,  useful  industry,  and 
charity.  These  were  advance  and  venturesome 
colonies  of  civilization.  Each  one  had  its  school, 
where  both  young  and  old  were  educated;  its  li- 
brar}^,  where  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  lives  of  the 
saints,  and  various  kinds  of  moral,  homiletic,  and 
doctrinal  treatises  were  copied  with  that  care  and 
that  beautiful  art  which  we  of  to-day  wonder  at; 
each  had  its  well-tilled  fields,  which  became  mod- 
els for  the  barbarians;  each  had  its  solidly  built 
houses,  which  were  lessons  in  stone  to  the  roving 
warrior  tribes;  each  was  the  home  of  plenty,  of 
peace,  and  of  piety,  in  a  land  distressed  often  by 
death,  and  distracted  perpetually  by  war. 

The  power  of  self-denial  v/hich  flesh  and  blood 
are  capable  of,  and  the  influence  of  such  self-denial 
upon  peoples  a  stranger  to  it,  constitute  the  two 
supreme  lessons  of  Monachism.  When  its  vast 
beneficent  results  are  considered,  our  revulsion  at 
its  incidental  repugnant  features  greatly  declines. 
This  severe  rigor  of  self-discipline,  moreover,  was 
a  training  for  the  arduous  labors,  the  extreme  hard- 
ships and  dangers  of  the  missionary  work  that  was 
to  be  done  in  unbroken  forests  and  almost  impene- 
trable mountains. 

It  must  be  also  granted  that  a  fanatical  idea  of 
how  heaven  was  to  be  merited  worked  together 
with  nobler  motives.  The  same  spirit  was  the  in- 
spiration alike  of  martyrdom  and  of  Monasticism. 


270  The  C liter ch  of  the  Fathers. 

When  the  opportunity  for  mart3^rdom  at  the  hands 
of  pagans  ceased,  the  zeal  for  bearing  witness  by 
suffering  continued.  One  incentive  moved  to  both, 
namely,  to  win  heaven  by  forfeiting  earth.  '*A 
conviction  of  moral  unworthiness,  morbidly  in- 
tense," may  be  said  to  have  been  a  chief  source 
of  all  this  mortification  of  the  flesh.  '*  In  me — that 
is,  in  my  flesh,"  cries  St.  Paul,  *'dwelleth  no  good 
thing."  Therefore,  the  monks  sought  literally  to 
crucify  the  body. 

Notwithstanding  the  forbidding  features,  then, 
of  their  lives,  in  many  instances,  we  are  now  pre- 
pared to  appreciate  the  great  services  rendered  by 
the  monks  of  the  early  and  middle  ages,  as  mis- 
sionaries, as  colonizers,  and  as  civilizers;  services 
which,  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  discern,  could  have 
been  performed  in  no  other  way  and  by  no  other 
class.  Forests  and  mountains  were  penetrated, 
and  monasteries  were  planted  in  the  heart  of  the 
wilderness,  from  w^hich  the  influences  of  a  hicrher 
civilization  radiated  in  every  direction,  to  the  per- 
manent advantage  of  mankind.  Europe  was  tamed 
and  civilized  by  the  missionary  monks. 

To  trace  this  history  to  its  completion  would 
carry  us  far  beyond  our  limits,  even  through  the 
middle  ages.  Yet  a  part  of  it  comes  within  our 
period,  and  that  the  part  which  most  nearly  con- 
cerns us  as  an  English  people,  and  is  the  most  in- 
teresting every  way.  I  refer,  first,  to  the  mission- 
ary work  of  the  early  Celtic  monks;  and,  second- 
ly, to  the  replanting  of  Christianity  in  England. 


Monasticisni .  271 

Christianity  was  planted  in  the  British  Isles  in 
the  second  century;  tradition  places  its  introduc- 
tion even  in  the  first.  As  early  as  A.D.  208,  Ter- 
tullian  declared  that  "places  in  Britain  not  yet 
visited  by  the  Romans  were  subject  to  Christ." 
Three  British  bishops,  in  A.D.  314,  were  at  the 
Council  of  Aries,  in  southern  Gaul;  these  two  are 
the  earliest  historical  notices  we  have.  Probably 
for  a  century  after  the  latter  date  Christianity  flour- 
ished among  the  Celts,  but  it  was  doomed  almost 
to  extirpation ;  for  in  the  year  410  British  rule  in 
the  islands  came  to  an  end  ;  and  in  449  the  Angles 
and  Saxons,  a  yet  heathen  people,  invaded  the 
country  and  destroyed  almost  the  last  vestiges  of 
Roman  civilization  and  of  Christianity.  Only  in 
Ireland  and  northwestern  Scotland  and  in  Wales 
did  this  early  British  Christianity  maintain  an  ex- 
istence. It  flourished  most  vigorously  in  Ireland, 
and  from  this  country  in  the  sixth  century  many 
bands  of  missionaries  went  out,  not  only  into  Scot- 
land and  England,  but  into  the  continent.  They 
went  in  companies  of  thirteen — one  being  the  lead- 
er— representing  Christ  and  his  twelve  disciples. 
St.  Columba  and  his  twelve  companions,  in  563, 
were  the  first  band  to  go  out  thus ;  but  during  the 
next  three  hundred  years  many  similar  companies 
went  on  missions  to  other  lands. 

Christianity  was  replanted  in  Britain  from  Rome, 
in  597*  The  story  is  famous.  It  is  well  known 
how  the  monk  Gregory  saw  the  fair-haired  Angli- 
can slaves  in  the   Roman  market  place,  and,  on 


272  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

hearing  their  nationahty,  exclaimed,  ''■JVon  Angli 
sed  AngeUr^  and  vowed  that  some  time  he  would 
take  the  gospel  to  these  youths,  snatched  from  the 
wrath  of  God ;  how  he  started  on  this  mission  him- 
self, but  was  recalled  to  be  made  pope ;  how  then 
he  sent  Augustine,  with  forty  companions  ;  how  in 
the  year  597  they  arrived  upon  the  shores  of  Kent, 
and  were  met  and  welcomed  by  King  Ethelbert, 
who  said,  "Your  words  are  fair,  but  they  are  new 
and  of  doubtful  meaning,"  and  promised  to  hear 
them  again ;  how  they  founded  the  monastery  of 
Canterbury,  and  within  a  year,  mainly  through 
the  influence  of  his  queen,  Bertha,  who  was  al- 
ready a  Christian  from  Gaul,  they  had  won  the 
king  to  Christianity — all  this  beautiful  story,  told 
so  naively  in  the  *' Ecclesiastical  History"  of  Bede, 
is  well  known.  From  Kent  Christianity  was  car- 
ried into  Northumbria,  and  in  the  seventh  century 
we  find  there  the  monastery  of  Fulda,  and  such  a 
scholar  as  the  "  Venerable  Bede,"  and  such  a  poet 
as  Ca^dmon — the  one  the  father  of  English  prose, 
the  other  of  EngHsh  poetry. 

From  the  British  Isles  missionaries,  either  singly 
or  in  groups,  go  into  the  heart  of  Germany  and  the 
frigid  regions  of  the  North.  And  thus  by  mission- 
ary monks  was  civilization  carried  to  all  the  tribes 
from  w^hose  loins  were  to  come  the  nations  of  mod- 
ern Europe. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
Charles  Kingsley's  "The  Roman  and  the  Teuton  "  is  as  in- 
teresting as  a  novel  and  as  lofty  as  an  epic.     It  is  a  vivid,  imag- 
inative presentation  of  the  matter  Avith  which  it  deals. 


THE  PELAGIAN  CONTROVERSY. 
18 


"All  great  divergences  of  religion,  where  men  are  really  re- 
ligious, arise  from  the  undue  dominance  of  some  principle  or 
element  in  our  religious  nature.  This  controversy  was  in  truth 
the  strife  between  two  such  innate  principles,  which  philoso- 
phy despairs  of  reconciling,  on  which  the  New  Testament  has 
not  pronounced  with  clearness  or  precision.  The  religious 
sentiment,  which  ever  assumes  to  itself  the  excclusive  name 
and  authority  of  religion,  is  not  content  without  feeling,  or  at 
least  supposing  itself  to  feel,  the  direct,  immediate  agency  of 
God  upon  the  soul  of  man.  This  seems  inseparable  from  the 
divine  sovereignty, even  from  providential  government,  which 
it  looks  like  impiety  to  limit,  and  of  which  it  is  hard  to  conceive 
the  self-limitation.  Must  not  God's  grace,  of  its  nature,  be  ir- 
resistible.'* What  can  bound  or  fetter  Omnipotence?  This 
seems  the  first  principle  admitted  in  prayer,  in  all  intercourse 
between  the  soul  of  man  and  the  Infinite;  it  is  the  life-spring 
of  religious  enthusiasm,  the  vital  energy,  not  of  fanaticism  only, 
but  of  zeal.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  an  equally  intuitive 
consciousness  (and  out  of  consciousness  grows  all  our  knowl- 
edge of  these  things)of  the  freedom,  or  self-determining  power, 
of  the  human  will.  On  this  depends  all  morality  and  the  sense 
of  human  responsibility ;  all  conception,  except  that  which  is 
unreasoning  and  instinctive,  of  the  divine  justice  and  mercy. 
This  is  the  problem  of  philosophy;  the  degree  of  subservience 
in  the  human  will  to  influences  external  to  itself,  and  in  noway 
self-originated  or  self-controlled,  and  to  its  inward  self-deter- 
mining power." — Mibtian, 

(274) 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  PELAGIAN  CONTROVERSY. 

I.  Origin  of  Pelagianism. 

Augustine  was  uncertain  about  the  origin  of 
the  great  heresy  against  which  he  contended.  At 
first  he  speaks  of  Pelagius  and  Ccelestius  as  ''the 
authors,  or  at  least  as  the  most  bitter  and  noted 
advocates,  of  the  heresy." 

Jerome,  writing  about  A.D.  413,  derives  the 
heresy  from  a  multitude  of  sources:  the  Stoics 
and  Pythagoreans,  Origen,  Rufinus,  Evagrius, 
Jovian,  Priscillian,  Manichasus,  and  others.  Je- 
rome's object  was  doubtless  to  arouse  odium 
against  the  Pelagian  doctrine,  and  chose  the  way 
that  had  in  other  cases  proved  effective.  His  un- 
derstanding of  the  actual  teachings  of  Pelagius 
was  very  imperfect. 

Much  disagreement,  indeed,  both  as  to  the  ori- 
gin and  essential  nature  of  its  doctrines,  continues 
to  exist  to  the  present  time.  Arianism,  Druidism, 
and  Monasticism  have  each  been  put  forward  by 
modern  authors  as  the  parent  of  the  heresy.  The 
symbola  Jidei  oi  Pelagians  give  no  hint  of  any  di- 
vergence, however,  from  the  Trinitarianism  of  Ni- 
casa.  Christological  questions  do  not  enter  into 
the  discussion  in  any  way.  As  for  the  supposed 
origin  in  Druidism,  this  can  be  characterized  as 

(275) 


276  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

fanciful.  It  would  never  have  been  thought  of  if 
Pelagius  had  not  been  a  British  monk.  This  is 
about  the  only  basis  for  the  view.  For  it  must  be 
admitted  that,  owing  to  the  secret  way  of  teaching 
of  the  Druids,  we  have  no  accurate  knowledge  of 
what  their  doctrines  were.  The  continued  preva- 
lence of  Pelagianism  in  the  British  Isles,  after  its 
partial  suppression  elsewhere  in  the  empire,  may 
be  explained  on  other  grounds  than  that  of  having 
had  its  origin  there. 

The  connection  with  Monasticism  consists  in 
the  supposed  self-righteousness  characteristic  of 
both.  But  self-righteousness  is  abundantly  proved 
to  have  been  remote  from  the  thought  of  the  typ- 
ical monks — c.  g..^  St.  Anthony,  St.  Macarius,  and 
St.  Ephraim. 

The  view  of  Marius  Mercator,  the  earliest  his- 
torian of  the  controversy,  writing  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, also  claims  attention:  *'This  matter  against 
the  Catholic  faith,"  he  writes,  **was  agitated 
among  certain  Syrians,  and  especially  in  Cilicia, 
by  Theodore,  sometime  bishop  of  Mopsuestia." 
The  substance  of  the  heresy,  according  to  this 
writer,  was  in  two  doctrines — namely,  that  *'the 
progenitors  of  the  human  race,  Adam  and  Eve, 
were  created  mortal  by  God,  and  that  they  did  not 
injure  their  posterity  by  their  sin  of  transgres- 
sion." Both  these  tenets,  which  Mercator  re- 
gards as  containing  the  essence  of  the  heresy,  are 
found  in  Theodore. 

Rufinus,  the  early  friend  of  Jerome,  is  said  to 


The  Pelagian  Cont7'oversy.  277 

have  been  the  first  to  bring  the  heresy  to  Rome, 
where  he  ''deceived"  and  won  over  Pelagius. 
Mercator  says  he  was  a  Syrian.  The  Rufinus 
against  whom  Jerome  made  the  accusation  of  hav- 
ing brought  "a  ship  load  of  the  blasphemies  to 
the  city"  is  called  by  him  an  "Aquileian."  This 
was  under  Anastasius,  and  is  placed  in  the  year 
399.  Theodore  had  taught  his  doctrines  as  early 
as  390. 

2.  The  Conflict. 

The  formal  outbreak  of  Pelagianism  was  the  re- 
sult of  a  moral  and  humanitarian  interest.  An  apo- 
thegmatic  prayer  in  Augustine's  "  Confessions," 
"Give  what  thou  commandest,  and  command 
what  thou  wilt,"  was  intolerable  to  Pelagius,  as 
disparaging  the  independence  and  power  of  man. 
His  objection  to  the  sentiment  brought  him  into 
conflict  with  a  bishop  of  Rome,  as  Augustine 
relates,  in  the  midst  of  a  service.  His  assertion 
of  the  freedom  of  man  was  against  a  lingering  be- 
lief in  fatalism — Gnostic  and  Manichasan.  Justice 
has  perhaps  never  been  done  the  Pelagians  in  re- 
spect to  the  protest  they  made  against  the  tenden- 
cies of  their  times  that  derogated  from  the  dignity, 
the  free  agency,  the  Christian  Hberty,  and  God- 
likeness  of  man.  The  notion  that  man  stood  un- 
der a  law  whereby  he  sinned  of  necessity  was  very 
general.  The  result  of  such  a  view  is  to  weaken, 
if  not  destroy,  the  sense  of  responsibihty,  and  thus 
to  remove  the  chief  support  to  morality.  Against 
this,  the  lessening  of  personal  responsibilitv,  was 


278  The  CJm7'ch  of  the  Fathers. 

the  very  thing  that  Pelagius  set  himself  vehement- 
ly. He  affirmed  the  ability  in  man  to  keep  the 
commandments  laid  upon  him;  to  suppose  the  con- 
trary was  irrational  and  blasphemous. 

The  literary  activity  of  Pelagius  began  at  Rome 
as  early  as  the  year  405  with  an  epistle  to  St. 
Paulinus.  "In  the  three  hundred  Hues  of  which 
it  is  composed,"  he  wrote  later  in  his  own  defense, 
*' there  is  nothing  else  asserted  but  the  grace  and 
aid  of  God,  and  our  own  powerlessness  to  do  any 
good  whatsoever  without  God."  At  about  the 
same  time  he  composed  his  commentaries  on  the 
epistles  of  Paul,  in  which  he  opposed  the  doctrine 
of  original  sin  as  commonly  taught.  Cassiodorus 
subjected  these  commentaries  to  such  an  expurga- 
tion as  to  destroy  their  value  as  Pelagian  docu- 
ments, while  the  extracts  in  Mercator  are  too  scant 
to  indicate  much  more  than  has  been  noted, 
namely,  his  denial  (in  commenting  on  Rom.  v.  12) 
of  original  and  inherited  sin. 

Pelagius  came  to  Rome  from  Britain  before  the 
year  384.  His  origin  has  been  much  discussed, 
but  there  is  no  good  reason  for  rejecting  this  view. 
He  is  called  the  **  British  dragon"  by  Prosperus, 
and  by  Jerome  *'the  dog  of  Albion,  beastly  fat- 
tened on  Scottish  pulse."  His  original  name  was 
Morgan  (/.  ^.,  Marigena,  *'  seaman"),  and  for  the 
sake  of  euphony  was  translated  into  the  Greek, 
"Pelagius."  As  to  physical  appearance,  he  is 
characterized,  by  opponents,  as  obese  and  un- 
couth.    Duplicity  and  cunning,  according  also  to 


The  Pelagian  Controversy.  279 

them,  were  his  mental  characteristics.  Augus- 
tine, however,  is  more  just  than  the  rest  to  his 
opponent's  character.  He  had  by  nature,  he 
says,  a  most  keen,  strong,  and  acute  intellect. 
*' These  adversaries,"  he  further  writes,  ''are 
not  such  as  you  may  despise;  but  they  live  con- 
tinently, and  are  praiseworthy  in  good  works." 
The  only  charge  he  has,  at  this  time,  to  bring 
against  them  is  that  ''they  are  ignorant  of  the 
justice  of  God  and  wish  to  establish  their  own." 
Wesley,  with  the  broad-mindedness  character- 
istic of  him,  writes:  "I  would  not  affirm  that 
the  arch-heretic  of  the  fifth  century,  Pelagius, 
as  plentifully  as  he  has  been  bespattered  for 
many  ages,  was  not  one  of  the  holiest  men  of 
that  age." 

Some  years  before  this  time  (about  A.D.  400), 
Coelestius  had  attached  himself  to  Pelagius. 
Fleeing  together  from  Rome  before  the  invad- 
ing Goths,  they  betook  themselves  to  Sicily, 
where  they  continued  active  in  the  dissemination 
of  their  doctfines.  Their  stay  at  Syracuse  was 
some  two  or  three  years  in  duration.  Here  Pe- 
lagius probably  wrote  his  book  on  "Nature," 
to  which  Augustine's  on  "Nature  and  Grace" 
is  an  answer.  In  the  year  411  they  proceeded 
to  Hippo  to  visit  Augustine;  but  he  was  absent, 
and  they  went  to  Carthage  without  seeing  him. 
After  a  brief  stay  here,  Pelagius  went  to  Pales- 
tine, while  Coelestius  remained  at  Carthage.  This 
was  in  412. 


28o  The  Chuj'ch  of  the  Fathers. 

3.   Synods. 
Coelestius  was  brought  before  the  annual  synod 
of  Carthage  that  year  for  trial.     There  were  six 
charges  preferred.      He  was  accused  of  teaching 
that: 

1.  Adam  was  created  mortal,  and  would  have 
died  whether  he  had  sinned  or  not. 

2.  Adam's  sin  injured  only  himself,  and  not  the 
human  race. 

3.  Newborn  infants  are  in  the  same  state  Adam 
was  before  his  transgression. 

4.  Neither  by  Adam's  death  or  transgression 
does  all  mankind  die,  nor  by  Christ's  resurrection 
does  all  mankind  rise. 

5.  The  law  as  well  as  the  gospel  conducts  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

6.  There  were  even  before  the  advent  of  our 
Lord  sinless  men. 

Unable  to  refute  these  charges,  he  was  con- 
demned. It  is  said  that  he  put  forth  these  views 
in  a  work  against  original  sin  as  early  as  401  or 
402.  His  "  Definitions  of  Sinlessness"  was  writ- 
ten about  408,  to  which  Augustine's  "Perfection 
of  Justice  "  was  a  repty.  The  importance  of  the 
first-named  work  will  justify  a  translation  here  of 
several  articles  of  it. 

"  First  of  all,"  he  writes,  "  he  who  denies  that 
man  can  be  without  sin  must  ask,  'What  is  the 
nature  of  sin?  Is  it  something  that  can  be 
avoided,  or  something  that  cannot  be  avoided?' 
If  it  cannot  be   avoided,  it  is   not  sin;    if  it  can 


The  Pelagian  Controvej'sy.  281 

be  avoided,  then  man  can  be  without  sin,  because 
it  can  be  avoided.  For  neither  reason  nor  justice 
indeed  suffers  that  to  be  called  sin  which  can  by 
no  means  be  avoided. 

"Again,  it  is  to  be  asked,  *  Whereby  does  a 
man  come  to  have  sin:  by  the  necessity  of  nature 
or  by  freedom  of  will?'  If  by  the  necessity  of 
nature,  there  is  no  blame;  if  by  freedom  of  will, 
it  is  to  be  asked  from  whom  he  received  this  free- 
dom of  will.  Unquestionably,  from  God.  But 
what  God  has  given  cannot  certainly  be  denied  to 
be  good.  But  how  can  it  be  proved  to  be  good  if 
it  is  more  prone  to  evil  than  to  good?  And  it  is 
more  prone  to  evil  than  to  good  if  by  it  a  man  can 
sin  but  cannot  keep  from  sinning. 

"Again,  it  is  to  be  asked,  '  In  how  many  ways 
can  sin  be  committed?'  In  two,  if  I  am  not  mis- 
taken— namely,  either  by  doing  what  is  prohibited, 
or  by  not  doing  what  is  commanded.  Now,  sure- 
ly all  those  things  which  are  prohibited  can  be 
avoided,  and  those  which  have  been  commanded 
can  be  performed. 

"Again,  it  is  to  be  asked,  *  If  the  nature  of  man 
is  good — a  fact  that  no  one  except  Marcion  and 
Manichaeus  dare  deny — how  is  it  good  if  it  cannot 
possibly  be  without  evil?  '  For  who  can  doubt  that 
every  sin  is  evil?  " 

We  perceive  that   here  is   much  quibbling,   al- 


282  The  Chu7'ch  of  the  J-^aihers. 

though  a  neglected  side  of  truth  has  been  laid  hold 
upon.  We  shall  adjudge  Pelagius  not  to  be  whol- 
ly destitute  of  merit. 

One  of  Jerome's  assaults  upon  Coelestius  about 
this  time  runs  as  follows:  "  One  of  his  (Pelagius's) 
disciples,  already  forsooth  a  teacher,  and  leader  of 
the  whole  army,  and  a  vessel  of  perdition  against 
the  apostle,  running  his  devious  way  through  thick- 
ets of  solecisms,  and  not,  as  his  adherents  boast, 
of  syllogisms,  thus  philosophizes  and  argues :  '  If  I 
can  do  nothing  without  God's  aid,  and  if  in  ever}^ 
work  all  that  I  shall  do  is  his,  then  it  is  not  I  who 
labor,  but  it  is  God's  aid  that  shall  be  crowned  in 
me;  and  in  vain  has  he  given  me  freedom  of  will 
which  I  cannot  exercise  unless  he  himself  shall  al- 
ways aid  me ;  for  the  power  of  willing  is  destroyed 
when  it  requires  the  help  of  another.  But  God 
has  given  a  free  will,  which  is  not  otherwise  free 
than  that  I  shall  do  what  I  shall  will  to  do.  In  a 
word,  then,  either  I  use  the  power  which  has  been 
given  me,  so  that  free  will  is  preserved,  or,  if  I  re- 
quire the  assistance  of  another,  liberty  of  choice  in 
me  is  destroyed.'  " 

Having  been  w^on  over  to  the  cause,  Coelestius 
had  early  become  a  more  vigorous  and  conspicu- 
ous champion  of  it  than  his  master.  Mercator 
gives  us  what  first-hand  knowledge  w^e  have  of 
him.  *'  He  was  of  noble  birth,"  he  writes,  *'and 
an  advocate  by  profession.  Taught  by  Pelagius, 
he  imbibed  that  most  impious  doctrine  in  a  more 
unadulterated  form,  and  by  an  incredible  loquaci- 


The  Pelagian  Controversy.  283 

ty  won  many  adherents  and  confreres  to  this  his 
madness." 

Pelagius  was  brought  to  trial  before  a  synod  at 
Jerusalem,  A.D.  413.  Bishop  John  presided ;  Oro- 
sius,  a  presbyter  of  Spain,  who  was  acquainted  with 
the  acts  of  the  Carthaginian  synod,  prosecuted. 
Two  false  doctrines  were  produced  as  laid  by 
Augustine  to  Pelagius's  charge:  "i.  That  a  man 
can  be  without  sin,  if  he  wishes.  2.  That  he 
can  easily  keep  God's  commandments."  Judg- 
ment was  suspended,  and  the  case  was  referred  to 
Rome.  Only  silence,  pending  the  decision  of 
Pope  Innocent,  was  enjoined  upon  Pelagius. 

The  obnoxious  doctrines  were  to  be  found  in  Pela- 
gius's  book  on  "  Nature,"  written  in  Sicily  before 
411.  The  extracts  given  by  Augustine  in  his  re- 
ply are  copious.  There  Pelagius  had  said:  "I 
can  say  a  man  can  be  without  sin.  What  sayest 
thou?  *A  man  cannot  be  without  sin.'  Neither 
do  I  say  any  man  is  without  sin,  nor  dost  thou  say 
any  man  is  not  without  sin :  concerning  the  ability, 
not  the  fact,  do  we  contend."  But  God's  help  is 
asserted  as  necessary,  and  it  is  by  the  reaffirma- 
tion of  this  at  the  synod  of  Jerusalem  that  he  es- 
capes condemnation. 

4.  Pelagius's  Epistle  to  Demetrias. 

In  this  year  (413)  falls  the  most  important  Pe- 
lagian document,  namely,  the  **  Epistle  to  Deme- 
trias," written  by  Pelagius  to  a  wealthy  virgin  who 
had  assumed  the  veil.     To  this  epistle,  preserved 


284  The  Church  of  the  Fath 


ers. 


in  its  entirety,  the  student  must  go  who  would  un- 
derstand Pelagianism.  It  is  Pelagianism  in  prac- 
tice— the  spirit,  method,  philosophy,  ethics,  are 
all  here.  Quotations,  however  extended,  must 
fail  to  do  justice  to  the  work.  But  Pelagius's 
general  ideas  may  be  presented.  His  ruling  prin- 
ciple is  given  at  the  outset.  *'As  often  as  I  take 
in  hand,"  he  writes,  *'to  speak  of  moral  instruc- 
tion and  the  conduct  of  the  holy  life,  I  am  accus- 
tomed first  of  all  to  set  forth  the  quality  and  force 
of  human  nature  and  to  demonstrate  what  it  can 
accomplish."  His  intention  is  thereby  to  incite 
to  virtue,  to  encourage  those  whom  he  addresses 
as  a  general  does  his  soldiers.  **For  we  are  not 
able  even  so  much  as  to  enter  upon  a  course  of  \ 
virtue  unless  hope  be  our  companion  and  guide." 
It  is  necessary  to  show  what  the  power  of  our  na- 
ture is,  since  one  might  as  well  not  have  a  thing 
as  to  be  ignorant  he  has  it. 

Chief  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  fact  that  God 
made  man  good  and  gave  him  dominion  over  all 
other  creatures.  For,  *'whom  he  made  defense- 
less externally  he  armed  the  better  within ;  that 
is,  by  prudence  and  reason,  so  that  by  the  vigor 
of  his  intellect  and  soul  he  might  be  at  the  head 
of  the  animal  creation  and  alone  know  the  Crea- 
tor of  all,  and  that  he  might  serve  God  by  those 
powers  by  which  he  rules  other  things  ;  whom  the 
Lord,  moreover,  wished  to  be  the  voluntary  doer 
of  righteousness,  not  the  forced.  And  so  he  left 
him  in  the  hands  of  his  own  counsel,  and  set  be- 


^ 


The  Pelagian  Controversy,  285 

fore  him  life  and  death,  good  and  evil."  An  ob- 
jection to  the  doctrine  of  man's  goodness  by 
nature  is  answered:  *'And  so  you  think  man 
not  created  truly  good  because  he  can  do  evil, 
and  is  not  by  the  force  of  nature  bound  to  the 
necessity  of  immutable  goodness.  But,  instead 
of  derogating  from  human  nature,  if  rightly  un- 
derstood, **in  this  liberty  in  each  direction  is 
placed  the  honor  of  the  rational  soul."  Only 
by  having  such  double  liberty  could  praise  and 
reward  be  merited.  "There  would  be  no  virtue 
at  all  in  the  one  who  perseveres  in  goodness  if  we 
could  not  turn  to  evil.  .  .  .  The  good  Creator 
wished  us  to  be  capable  of  either,  but  to  do  one, 
namely,  the  good,  which  he  also  commanded; 
and  he  gave  us  the  possibility  of  evil  to  this  end 
alone,  that  we  might  reject  it  of  our  own  choice. 
Since  this  is  so,  this  also  is  good,  that  we  are 
capable  of  doing  evil.  ...  It  is  allowed  us  to 
choose,  to  reject,  to  approve,  to  condemn.  .  .  . 
Some  very  unworthy  men,  neglecting  to  make 
the  most  of  themselves,  wish  that  they  had  been 
made  different,  so  that  they  seem  to  wish  to 
emend  nature  instead  of  their  own  lives. 
The  goodness  of  nature  is  so  universally  implant- 
ed in  all  men  that  it  manifests  itself  even  in  hea- 
thens who  are  without  any  worship  of  God."  Phi- 
losophers afford  illustrious  examples  of  all  kinds 
of  virtue:  "of  how  much  more,  then,  are  Chris- 
tians capable,  whose  nature  and  life  have  been 
built  up  and  taught  in  a  better  way  by  Christ, 


286  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

and  who  are  helped  also  by  the  aid  of  divine 
favor?" 

Again  he  says :  *'  There  is  in  our  souls,  as  I  might 
say,  a  certain  natural  piety.  The  good  conscience 
itself  bears  witness  to  this  goodness  of  nature. 
The  law  written  in  the  hearts  of  men  was  the  guide 
of  all  those  who  lived  from  Adam  to  Moses,  of 
whom  there  were  many  righteous."  Of  Job  he 
exclaims:  *' Evangelist  before  the  evangel,  and 
apostle  before  the  apostolic  teaching!  who,  open- 
ing up  the  hidden  riches  of  nature  and  producing 
them  to  view,  shows  what  we  of  ourselves  are  all 
capable  of." 

The  function  and  efficacy  of  the  law  and  the 
force  of  habit  are  set  forth.  The  argument  here 
regarding  the  ability  of  nature  is  cumulative: 
"  It  is  no  slight  argument  for  proving  the  goodness 
of  human  nature  that  those  first  men  were  with- 
out any  admonition  of  the  law  during  so  many 
generations:  not  that  there  was  ever  a  time  when 
God  had  no  care  for  his  creature,  but  because  he 
knew  he  had  made  the  nature  of  man  such  that 
it  was  adequate  in  place  of  the  law  for  the  exer- 
cise of  righteousness.  Furthermore,  while  as  yet 
youthful  vigor  belonged  to  nature,  and  long-con- 
tinued habit  of  sinning  had  not  drawn,  as  it  were, 
a  veil  over  the  human  reason,  nature  was  released 
from  law.  But  when  it  became  buried  in  excess- 
ive vices  and  was  consumed  by  the  rust,  so  to 
speak,  of  ignorance,  the  Lord  gave  the  file  of  the 
law,  so  that,  by  the  frequent  rasping  of  this,  na- 


The  Pelagian  Controversy.  287 

ture  was  cleansed  and  embellished  and  restored 
to  its  brightness.  There  is' not,  indeed,  any  other 
cause  that  makes  it  difficult  for  us  to  do  well  than 
the  long  custom  of  vices  which  has  grown  on  us 
from  infancy,  and  through  many  years  has  grad- 
ually corrupted  us,  and  so  holds  us  addicted  and 
bound  to  itself  that  it  seems  to  have  in  a  measure 
the  force  of  nature." 

This  recognition  of  the  part  performed  by  habit 
in  sinning  is  noteworthy.  The  opponents  of  Pela- 
gianism  did  not  consider  this  recognition  in  their  at- 
tacks upon  the  system.  The  difficulty  of  alteration 
was  also  clearly  admitted,  for  old  custom  opposed 
the  new  desire.  The  cumulative  argument  contin- 
ues: '*  If  even  before  the  law,  as  we  have  said,  and 
long  before  the  coming  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour, 
men  are  said  to  have  lived  righteously  and  holily, 
how  much  more  after  this  glorious  advent  is  it  to 
be  believed  that  we  who  have  been  edified  by  the 
grace  of  Christ,  and  have  been  born  again  to  a 
better  manhood;  who  having  our  sins  atoned  for 
and  cleansed  by  his  blood,  and  being  incited  by 
his  example  to  perfect  righteousness,  ought  to  be 
better  than  those  who  were  before  the  law ;  bettei 
also  than  were  those  under  the  law." 

The  emphasis  placed  upon  knowledge  in  Pela- 
gianism  is  indeed  great,  but  not  sufficiently  exag- 
gerated to  constitute  heresy,  **  The  first  care  of  the 
virgin,"  says  Pelagius,  in  the  light  of  the  forego- 
ing argument,  *'  and  her  first  endeavor,  should  be 
to  know  the  will  of  her  Lord,  and  diligently  to  in- 


288  The  Church  of  the  Feathers. 

quire  what  is  pleasing,  what  is  displeasing,  to  him, 
that  according  to  the  apostle  he  may  render  to 
God  a  'reasonable  service.'  " 

As  fear,  in  the  ancient  proverb,  is  made  the  be- 
ginning of  wisdom,  so  knowledge  is  in  this  teach- 
ing made  the  beginning — only  the  beginning — of 
virtue.  *'To  investigate  what  is  taught  is  the  first 
step  of  obedience,  and  it  is  a  part  of  service  to 
learn  what  you  should  do."  This  knowledge  is 
primary  and  essential,  in  view  of  the  nature  of  the 
divine  precepts — i.  e.,  their  diversity.  **  Know 
therefore  that  in  the  divine  Scriptures,  where  alone 
you  are  able  to  discover  the  entire  will  of  God,  cer- 
tain things  are  prohibited,  others  are  allowed,  some 
are  recommended.  Evil  deeds  are  prohibited,  good 
are  commanded,  the  indifferent  are  permitted,  the 
perfect  are  recommended.  In  the  two  classes  which 
stand  first,  all  sin  is  included;  for  in  each  is  there 
contained  a  commandment  of  God.  .  .  .  But  the 
two  which  follow  .  .  .  are  put  in  our  control,  so 
that,  with  less  honor,  we  may  use  what  is  conceded, 
or,  for  the  sake  of  greater  reward,  we  may  reject 
even  those  things  which  are  permitted  us." 

We  discover  in  this  an  idea  that  is  analogous — 
this  is  perhaps  all  that  can  be  said — to  the  theory 
of  Monasticism,  namely,  that  something  over  and 
above  the  absolute  requirement  of  the  Christian 
commandment  is  capable  of  being  done.  The  re- 
sponsibility of  the  individual  is  correspondingly 
enhanced.  The  appeal,  after  certain  stages,  rests 
upon  a  different  footing;  virtue  has  other  incentives. 


TJic  Pelagian  Controversy.  289 

The  training  of  the  will,  by  whose  effort  all  is  ac- 
complished, is  more  wisely  provided  for.  The 
possibility  of  success  is  denied  no  one.  "  Every 
one,  moreover,"  concludes  Pelagius,  "  who  seeks 
shall  find;  and  whoever  finds,  let  him  not  fear  to 
be  robbed;  for  those  things  alone  are  good  which 
we  never  either  find  or  lose  except  by  choice." 

There  is  no  inheritance  of  spiritual  riches.  *'  No 
one  but  thyself  is  able  to  confer  spiritual  riches 
upon  thee."  Otherwise  where  would  the  praise 
be?  Yet  the  force  of  example  and  of  parental 
character  is  acknowledged.  To  say  we  are  not 
able  to  keep  the  commandments  is  to  ascribe  ini- 
quity and  cruelty  to  God.  Remembering  our 
frames  that  they  are  dust,  he  has  imposed  no  im- 
possible requirements.  '*  God  is  made  by  some 
to  seem  rather  to  desire  our  condemnation  than 
our  salvation.  He  who  is  just  has  wished  to  com- 
mand nothing  impossible.  No;  will  he  who  is 
merciful  condemn  man  on  account  of  that  which 
cannot  be  avoided?"  This  is  the  main  conten- 
tion, the  chief  stay,  of  Pelagianism. 

The  means  of  advancement  recommended  are 
reading,  prayer,  and  loving  works.  The  first  two 
must  bear  fruit  in  the  last:  this  is  the  end  of  all 
pious  exercise.  "  It  profits  not  at  all  to  learn  what 
should  be  done,  and  not  to  do  it."  The  gracious 
interchange  of  reading,  prayer,  and  holy  work  is 
the  divine  mode  of  bringing  the  soul  to  perfection. 
The  temptation  of  the  devil  is  to  be  taken  into  ac- 
count; but  he  does  us  no  harm  without  the  coop- 
19 


290  The  Church  of  the  Feathers. 

eration  of  our  will.  *'  *  With  our  own  sword,'  as 
the  saying  is,  *  he  cuts  our  throats.'  " 

As  regards  moral  progress,  it  is  accomplished 
by  effort,  slowly  and  gradually.  The  mark  of 
perfection  is  never  to  be  thought  of  as  attained: 
"By  daily  fresh  increments  of  virtue  the  mind  is 
to  be  built  up ;  this  journey  of  our  life  is  to  be 
measured  not  by  the  distance  we  have  traveled, 
but  by  the  distance  yet  remaining.  As  long  as  we 
are  in  this  body,  never  let  us  think  we  have  ar- 
rived at  perfection;  for  thus  something  better  is 
attained.  ...  Not  to  advance  is  immediately  to 
fallback." 

Such  is  the  character  of  this  most  beautiful  and 
most  instructive  of  the  Pelagian  writings.  Even 
Jerome  is  forced  to  praise  its  grace  and  finish. 

5.  Doctrines. 

The  test  question  perhaps  is.  How  does  Pelagi- 
us  think  of  the  grace  of  God,  seeing  he  admits  it? 
This  review  will  acquaint  us  with  Augustinianism. 
By  Augustine  in  his  "Epistle  to  Paulinus"  (A.D. 
405)  he  is  quoted  as  saying  he  "sought  not  to  be 
thought  to  defend  free  will  without  the  grace  of 
God,  since  the  possibility  of  willing  and  doing, 
without  which  we  can  will  and  do  nothing  good,  is 
implanted  in  us  by  the  Creator."  This  is  a  lim- 
itation upon  the  grace  of  God  intolerable  to  the 
Augustinian  party,  which  required  its  action  in 
every  single  move.  The  operation  of  grace  ac- 
cording to  Pelagius  was  like  the  working  of  gen- 


The  Pelagian  Controversy.  291 

eral  law.  It  was  a  question  in  Augustine's  mind 
as  late  as  the  year  417  just  how  far  the  working 
of  grace  in  tlie  conception  of  Pelagius  extended. 
*'  Whether  he  makes  grace  to  consist  in  the  remis- 
sion of  sins,  or  also  in  the  doctrine  and  example 
of  Christ,  or  beHeves  there  is  some  aid  to  well- 
doing added  to  nature  and  doctrine  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  a  burning  and  shining  love,  not  at  all  ap- 
pears." 

Indisputably  we  have  repeated  assertions  by 
Pelagius  of  the  need  of  divine  help  and  grace 
throughout  life.  In  his  injunctions  he  emphasizes 
the  value  of  prayer.  If  there  is  an  apparent  want 
of  importance  attached  thereto,  it  is  only  in  mak- 
ing works  the  end  and  in  exalting  the  active  life 
of  service.  Again,  in  his  treatise  on  *'  Nature," 
Pelagius  had  written:  *'A  man  cannot  indeed  get 
rid  of  the  sins  he  has  already  committed.  But 
they  are  to  be  expiated,  and  the  Lord  is  to  be 
prayed  to  on  their  account.  I  willingly  concede 
that  what  is  done  the  power  of  nature  and  the  will 
of  man  are  not  able  to  undo." 

The  nature  of  sin  is  another  question  of  prime 
importance.  In  the  treatise  on  "Nature"  he 
wrote:  *'We  have  first  of  all  to  discuss  whether, 
as  it  is  said,  nature  is  weakened  and  changed  by 
sin."  It  is  manifest  that  the  discussion  of  this  ques- 
tion is  preliminary  to  any  assertion  of  the  present 
capacity  of  nature  as  deduced  from  its  original  en- 
dowment. If  our  nature  has  been  so  weakened 
and  changed,  then  all  any  one  might  say  about  the 


292  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

primitive  goodness  of  nature  would  go  for  naught. 
Pelagius  argues  against  such  a  general  charge. 
And  he  arrives  at  such  conclusion  first  by  an  in- 
quiry into  the  nature  of  sin.  "  Before  all  things, 
I  think  we  are  to  ask,  What  is  sin?  Is  it  a  sub- 
stance, or  a  mere  name  wanting  substance,  whereby 
is  expressed  not  a  thing  or  existence,  but  the  doing 
of  an  evil  deed?  I  believe  it  is  so;  and  if  it  is  so, 
how  can  it  weaken  or  change  human  nature,  want- 
ing, as  it  does,  substance?"  Without  this  concep- 
tion of  sin  he  could  not  hold  the  view  of  freedom 
which  he  does. 

The  clearness,  consistency,  and  steadfastness  of 
the  Pelagian  view  of  sin  afforded  a  conspicuous 
contrast  to  the  fluctuating  view  of  Augustine.  The 
entire  Pelagian  system  may  be  said  to  rest  upon 
this  definition.  It  renders  the  inheritance  of  sin 
impossible:  sin  is  not  a  thing,  it  cannot  therefore 
be  inherited.  That  is,  "  original  sin  "  is  a  figment. 
And,  as  sin  cannot  be  transmitted,  it  does  not  be- 
long to  newborn  children.  The  arguments  of  the 
Pelagians  against  original  sin  may  be  summarized 
as  follows:  Original  sin  is  impossible,  (i)  because 
God  the  Creator  of  men  is  a  good  God — liis  good- 
ness is  a  guarantee  against  the  creation  of  man  an 
evil  being,  which  original  sin  means;  (2)  because 
it  contradicts  the  idea  of  sin ;  (3)  because  it  is  op- 
posed to  the  Ploly  Scripture. 

The  baptism  of  infants  was  a  matter  that  came 
to  the  fore  in  many  of  the  councils.  In  the  first 
council  of  all,  that  of  Carthage,  Coelestius   was 


The  Pelagian  Controi)ersy,  293 

charged  with  heresy  on  this  point.  Of  course  the 
Pelagians,  denying  hereditary  sin,  could  not  hold 
the  Catholic  view  of  infant  baptism.  While  not 
giving  up  the  practice,  they  put  a  new  and  strange 
interpretation  upon  it.  It  might  well  be  asked,  by 
the  opponents  of  Pelagianism,  why  children  were 
/baptized  at  all.  Nay,  they  go  further,  and  de- 
mand a  reason  for  any  baptism  whatever. 

In  Pelagius's  **  Confession  of  Faith"  he  says: 
**  We  hold  one  baptism,  which  we  administer  to  in- 
fants in  the  same  sacramental  words  as  to  adults." 
Coelestius,  whose  *' Confession  of  Faith"  is  almost 
throughout  identical  with  that  of  Pelagius,  here 
makes  a  considerable  addition.  *' Infants,"  he 
says,  *'  are  to  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
according  to  the  rule  of  the  universal  Church,  .  .  . 
because  the  Lord  has  decreed  that  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  can  be  bestowed  only  upon  the  baptized." 
Julian,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  Pelagians,  said: 
"Infants  by  baptism  are  made  better  from  a  state 
of  goodness,  not  good  from  a  state  of  evil."  And 
again,  in  his  *'  Confession  of  Faith  "  :  ''According 
to  the  example  of  the  Church  and  the  commandment 
of  God,  we  affirm  one  baptism,  which  is  truly  neces- 
sary to  persons  of  all  ages ;  .  .  .  and  we  say  no- 
body can  find  pardon  of  sins  and  obtain  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  unless  he  has  been  baptized." 
That  *'  infants  are  baptized  not  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  but  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  amount- 
ed to  a  watchword  among  the  rest  of  the  Pela- 
gians.    "If  they  die  unbaptized,"  said  Pelagius, 


204  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

'*I  know  where  they  do  not  go,  but  I  know  not 
where  they  do  go."  Augustine,  on  the  contrary, 
unflinchingly  asserted  that  they  went  into  eternal 
torment.  He  denied  any  middle  place:  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Ihnbiis  infantium  had  not  yet  found 
its  way  into  the  Church.  Julian  represents,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  extreme  opposition.  With 
him  there  was  no  distinction  between  the  '*  king- 
dom of  heaven"  and  *' eternal  life,"  such  as  Pe- 
lagius  made. 

The  Pelagians  were  the  rationalists  of  their  age. 
Their  doctrine  of  grace,  of  prayer,  of  baptism, 
their  anthropology,  their  scriptural  exegesis,  their 
ethics,  were  rationalistic.  Deism  and  naturalism 
are  not  far  removed  from  rationalism,  and  there 
are  not  wanting  those  to  interpret  Pelagianism  as 
being  such  a  system.  But  Pelagianism  was  far 
from  simple  deism;  yet  naturalistic  it  surely  was. 
Its  influence  in  this  regard  has  not  yet  been  traced, 
but  it  seems  probable  that  in  semi-Pelagianism  an 
attitude  of  mind  and  a  way  of  thinking  were  trans- 
mitted from  Pelagius  to  modern  times.  *'  Natural 
supernaturalism  "  was  his  primary  conception. 

In  Julian,  perhaps,  Pelagianism  finds  its  most 
developed  expression.  Born  in  Apuleia,  of  par- 
ents celebrated  for  piety  and  good  works — his  fa- 
ther was  a  bishop,  his  mother  an  *'  excellent  wom- 
an," as  Mercator  says,  who  adds  that  ''before  he 
took  up  with  the  Pelagian  impiety  he  w^as  famous 
among  the  doctors  of  the  Church."  Keen  in  in- 
tellect, he  gave  in  youth  the  most  diligent  heed  to 


The  Pelagian  Cofiiroversy.  295 

secular,  then  to  sacred,  letters.  By  nature  he  was 
gifted  with  great  eloquence.  When  elevated  to 
the  bishopric  of  Eclanum,  in  416,  he  was  still  con- 
stant in  the  profession  of  the  Catholic  faith.  Yet 
prior  to  this  he  had  translated  the  "  Confession  of 
Faith"  of  Rufinus  from  the  original  Greek  into 
Latin — an  indication  of  the  Pelagian  trend  of  his 
thought.  His  epistle  to  Pope  Zosimus,  in  417,  con- 
tains almost  all  the  heretical  doctrines  which  had 
been  condemned  in  Coelestius.  His  own  "  Confes- 
sion ■'  dates  in  this  year.  It  was  sent  in  the  name 
of  eighteen  bishops  to  Pope  Zosimus.  Pelagian- 
ism  assumes  the  aggressive  attitude  in  this  pronun- 
ciamento  more  than  elsewhere.  Parts  one  and  two 
contain  the  usual  Pelagian  formulae  about  the  un- 
naturalness  of  sin,  the  goodness  and  integrity  of 
human  nature,  the  ability  of  man  on  account  of  the 
righteousness  of  God  to  fulfill  the  commandments 
of  the  divine  law  "  by  the  grace  of  Christ  and  by 
the  free  will  of  man  "  ;  this  grace  being  a  compan- 
ion and  aid  in  all  good  acts,  and  the  free  will  itself 
a  gift  of  God.  But  other  doctrines  are  more  dis- 
tinctly taught  than  in  the  earlier  "Confessions," 
namely:  that  every  man  is  the  special  creation 
of  God;  marriage  was  ordained  by  God,  and  is 
good;  and  therefore  that,  because  of  the  good- 
ness of  nature  and  this  blessing  upon  marriage 
and  the  honor  of  the  relation,  there  is  no  original 
sin. 

Julian  charged  Augustine  with   sharing   in  the 
error  of  Jovinian  because  he  had  written,  ''A  man 


296  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

cannot  wish  anything  good  unless  he  is  aided  by 
Him  who  can  wish  nothing  evil."  But  the  charge 
of  Manichgeism  was  the  one  most  commonly  made 
by  the  Pelagians  against  their  opponents.  The  de- 
fenders of  original  sin — /.  ^.,  the  Augustinians — 
are  accused  of  teaching,  ( i )  that  marriage  is  of 
the  devil ;  ( 2 )  that  the  children  thereof  are  fruits 
of  a  diabolical  tree;  (3)  that  all  men,  up  to  the 
time  of  the  passion  of  Christ,  belong  to  the  devil 
because  they  were  conceived  in  sin;  (4)  that  the 
Son  of  God  began  to  benefit  the  human  race  only 
from  the  time  of  his  passion  ;  (  5  )  that  sins  are  not 
entirely  destroyed  by  baptism;  (6)  that  the  saints 
of  the  Old  Testament  departed  this  life  with  sin; 
(  7  )  that  a  man  falls  of  necessity  into  sin  ;  ( 8 )  that 
the  Saviour,  by  necessity  of  the  flesh,  deceived; 
( 9 )  that,  on  account  of  the  impediment  of  the  flesh, 
he  was  not  able  to  do  all  he  wished. 

This  is  what  Pelagianism  felt  itself  called  upon  to 
oppose.  Julian  proceeds  to  make  clearer  its  posi- 
tion by  condemning  the  doctrines  which  were  com- 
monly attributed  to  his  sect:  "We  condemn  those 
who  say  sins  cannot  be  avoided  by  the  grace  of 
God.  But  also  whoever  sa3's  men  can  avoid  sins 
without  the  grace  or  help  of  God,  we  severely  de- 
test; whoever  denies  that  infants  require  baptism, 
or  holds  that  it  should  be  administered  to  them  in 
other  sacramental  words  than  to  adults;  whoever 
also  says  that  the  offspring  of  two  baptized  per- 
sons, or  of  a  baptized  mother,  does  not  need  the 
grace  of  baptism ;  or  whoever  asserts  that  all  man- 


The  Pelagian  Controversy.  297 

kind  neither  dies  in  Adam  nor  rises  in  Christ,  we 
condemn." 

Juhan's  ethical  principle  is  put  in  one  clear  sen- 
tence, often  repeated :  *'  By  the  decision  of  the  free 
will  we  can  do  the  good  we  wish  to  do,  yet  by  the 
aid  of  divine  grace  we  can  do  it  more  easily." 

What  from  this  review  are  we  enabled  to  con- 
clude regarding  Pelagianism  ?  It  is  a  system  of  doc- 
trine; this  is  the  first  thing  to  be  noted.  Any  one 
of  several  doctrines  might  easily  be  the  starting 
point,  and  the  other  doctrines  would  follow  in  con- 
sistent development.  Logically,  the  goodness  of 
God  seems  to  be  the  first,  though  chronologically 
the  goodness  of  his  work — that  is,  the  goodness  of 
human  nature — may  have  been  first  in  the  mind. 
Pelagius's  repugnance  to  the  favorite  dictum  of  Au- 
gustine, ''Give  what  thou  commandest,  and  com- 
mand what  thou  wilt,"  reveals  that  the  core  of  the 
controversy  was  the  relation  between  God  and  man, 
Pelagius  thinking  this  view  to  be  derogatory  to 
God  and  dishonoring  to  man — as  taking  away  the 
lofty,  impartial  character  of  the  one  and  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  other.  The  freedom  and  ability 
to  choose  and  act  in  a  good  or  evil  way  was  an 
essential  element  of  human  nature  created  good. 
Nothing,  neither  the  sin  of  Adam  nor  of  the  indi- 
vidual, had  ever  destroyed  this  property.  Man 
was  created  good,  he  was  still  essentially  good, 
and  free,  and  able  to  keep  all  God's  command- 
ments. God  is  the  author  of  both,  and  made  them 
commensurate  each  with  each.     The  wisdom  and 


298  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

goodness  of  God  require  this  to  be  so.  Let  no 
man,  therefore — ran  its  argument — despair  of 
pleasing  God  and  reaping  a  reward,  even  eternal 
life,  offered  to  all. 

Pelagianism  doubtless  arose  and  developed  in  op- 
position to  gnostic  and  pagan  notions  of  fatalism, 
and  the  kindred  Manichasan  principle  of  dualism. 
It  revolted  against  such  a  conception  of  the  uni- 
verse. Such  a  conception  was  not  Christian,  but 
pagan;  furthermore,  it  was  discouraging  and  pes- 
simistic, being  a  reversion  to  ante-Christian  de- 
spondency and  darkness.  All  the  Augustinians 
had  to  say  regarding  tlie  destiny  of  men  was  that 
its  decision  lay  in  the  hands  of  God  as  an  inscru- 
table mystery.  Doubtless  Pelagianism  underesti- 
mated the  force  of  heredity,  and  failed  to  compre- 
hend the  human  race  as  a  unity.  This,  however, 
was  certainly  owing  to  the  exigencies  of  the  con- 
troversy. The  Augustinians,  in  their  over-empha- 
sis of  these  ideas,  failed  to  render  due  credit  to  the 
force  and  independent  activity  of  the  individual. 

The  question  of  the  nature  of  sin  is  closely  re- 
lated to  this.  Augustine,  in  the  controversv,  de- 
parted from  his  early  conception  of  sin,  and  defines 
it  as  an  entit}',  a  real,  positive  substance.  It  was 
of  such  a  nature  that  it  could  be  transmitted,  and 
could  act  as  a  force  inherent  in  a  thing.  Matter 
was  inherently  evil;  that  is,  human  nature,  as  con- 
sisting of  flesh,  or  matter,  in  part,  had  evil  inerad- 
icably  inherent  within  it.  To  the  Pelagians  this 
was  Manichasan  blasphemy-.      Sin  was  the  doing 


The  Pelagian  Controversy.  ^99 

of  a  wrongful  deed,  according  to  Pelagius.  With 
the  deed  it  ended,  except  that  the  deed,  repeated, 
contributed  to  the  formation  of  a  habit,  and  the 
force  of  habit  was  not  overlooked. 

Following  the  Aristotelian  dialectic,  Pelagian- 
ism  appears  confident,  self-reliant,  and,  to  its  oppo- 
nents, arrogant;  j^etit  doubtless  supplied  in  its  con- 
fident, encouragingtone  the  support  needed  by  that 
despairing  age.  For  it  was  an  age  of  great  and 
inexplicable  disasters.  Such  doctrine  of  the  abil- 
ity of  human  nature  to  rise,  to  perform  God's 
will,  to  triumph,  would  act  as  a  tonic  to  an  age  sick 
in  all  it  members,  overwhelmed  by  calamities,  and 
losing  sight  of  the  good  cheer,  the  same  confident, 
inspiring  message  of  early  Christianity. 

The  adherents  of  Pelagianism  multiplied  rapid- 
ly. In  several  countries  they  soon  became  all  but 
predominant.  In  Sicily,  in  Italy,  in  Palestine,  in 
Britain,  the  Pelagians  were  alarmingly  numerous. 
Garnier  enumerates  no  fewer  than  twenty-two  syn- 
ods that  were  held  before  the  death  of  Augustine 
to  deal  with  the  heresy.  In  Africa  Augustine  had 
sufficient  force  to  hold  it  in  check  there. 

The  absorbing  and  almost  sole  aim  of  Pelagian- 
ism was  practical  and  ethical.  In  its  ''Confessions 
of  Faith"  no  heresy  on  speculative  matters  uncon- 
nected with  sin  and  grace — that  is,  in  regard  to  the 
Christological  and  Trinitarian  questions — can  be 
found.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  a  century  ear- 
lier Pelagianism  would  have  been  unchallenged. 
It  came  when  it  was  needed.     It  resisted  tenden- 


300  The  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

cies  too  strong  to  be  overcome,  yet  it  half  con- 
quered in  every  defeat.  Augustinianism,  in  the 
form  in  which  it  then  made  its  fight,  as  regards 
its  definition  of  sin,  its  doctrine  of  predestination, 
its  principle  of  dualism  and  the  inherent  evil  of 
matter,  is  as  foreign  as  Gnosticism  to  the  mind  of 
this  generation.  The  greater  piety  and  the  more 
commanding  faith  were  on  the  side  of  Augustine. 
The  quality  of  reasonableness,  of  sanity,  of  hu- 
mane Christlikeness  was  on  the  side  of  Pelagian- 
ism ;  and  as  it  was  subsequently  developed,  and 
was  modified  by  Arminius,it  has  largely  triumphed 
in  the  thought  of  the  present  day.  '*  The  false- 
hood of  extremes"  belonged  to  both  parties;  the 
body  of  truth,  which  is  whole,  symmetrical,  and 
beautiful  to  the  mind,  was  torn  asunder,  and  each 
party  with  a  distorted  fragment  claimed  the  perfect 
body.  The  modern  mind  is  neither  Augustinian 
nor  Pelagian :    it  is  Christian. 


COUNCILS  AND  CREEDS. 


"Well  knows  he  who  uses  to  consider,  that  our  faith  and 
knowledge  thrive  by  exercise  as  well  as  our  limbs  and  com- 
plexion. Truth  is  compared  in  Scripture  to  a  streaming  fount- 
ain; if  her  waters  flow  not  in  a  perpetual  progression,  they 
sicken  into  a  muddy  pool  of  conformity  and  tradition.  A  man 
may  be  a  heretic  in  the  truth ;  and  if  he  believe  things  only  be- 
cause his  pastor  says  so,  or  the  assembly  so  determines,  with- 
out knowing  other  reason,  though  his  belief  be  true,  yet  the 
very  truth  he  holdb  becomes  his  heresy.  There  is  not  any  bur- 
den that  some  would  gladlier  post  off  to  another  than  the  charge 
and  care  of  their  religion 

"  I  fear  yet  this  iron  yoke  of  outward  conformity  hath  left  a 
slavish  print  upon  our  necks;  the  ghost  of  a  linen  decency  yet 
haunts  us.  We  stumble  and  are  impatient  at  the  least  dividing 
of  one  visible  congregation  from  another,  though  it  be  not  in 
fundamentals;  and  through  our  forwardness  to  suppress,  and 
our  backwardness  to  recover,  any  enthralled  piece  of  truth  out 
of  the  grip  of  custom,  we  care  not  to  keep  truth  separated  from 
truth,  which  is  the  fiercest  rent  and  disunion  of  all.  We  do 
not  see  that  while  we  still  affect  by  all  means  a  rigid  external 
formality,  we  may  as  soon  fall  again  into  a  gross  conforming 
stupidity,  a  stark  and  dead  congealment  of  'wood  and  hay  and 
stubble'  forced  and  frozen  together,  which  is  more  to  the  sud- 
den degenerating  of  a  Church  than  many  subdichotomies  of 
petty  schisms.     .     ,     .     . 

"  If  it  come  to  prohibitmg,  there  is  not  aught  more  likely  to  be 
prohibited  than  truth  itself;  whose  first  appearance  to  our  eyes, 
bleared  and  dimmed  with  prejudice  and  custom,  is  more  un- 
sightly and  unplausibie  than  many  errors,  even  as  the  person 
is  of  many  a  great  man  slight  and  contemptible." — Milto?u 
(302) 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

COUNCILS  AND  CREEDS. 

"  Ut  id  teneamus  quod  ubique,  quod  semper,  quod  ab  omnibus 
creditum  est." —  Vinccntius  (c.  4J4). 

"The  Catholic  faith— that  which  the  Lord  gave,  the  apostles 
preached,  and  the  Fathers  preserved."— y J ///««« -f/«5. 

"  Nothing  great  can  be  done  without  passion."— i/^^e/. 

"Religion  flourishes  best  in  the  atmosphere  of  freedom,  anci 
need  not  fear  error  as  long  as  truth  is  left  free  to  combat  it."— 
Dr.  Schaff. 

He  is  no  true  historian  who  chooses  for  a  motto, 
Nihil  nisi  bonum.  The  faithful  historian  must 
present  all  the  aspects  of  his  subject;  he  must  de- 
scribe events  as  they  occurred ;  he  must  represent 
persons  in  their  true  character,  whether  to  their 
glory  or  their  shame;  he  must  set  down  facts  as 
they  are,  for  credit  or  for  discredit;  in  a  word,  he 
must  put  all  things  fully  before  the  reader  in  a 
true  hght.  His  business  is  the  relation,  not  the 
revision,  of  what  has  been  said  and  done  in  the 
world.  As  the  Methodist  Disciphne  requires  the 
novice  to  say  he  will  keep  the  rules,  not  mend 
them,  so  Clio  exacts  the  vow  of  her  devotee  that 
he  will  write  history,  not  make  it. 

The  Church  is  a  corporation  of  men  and  women, 
not  all  saints;  and  if  they  were  saints,  yet  saints 
are  not  angels.  The  imperfections  that  belong  to 
human  creatures  may  therefore  be  expected  to  be- 
long to  it.     There  will  be  found  in  its  sacred  pre- 

(303) 


304  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

cincts  not  only  aspirations  after  heaven,  but  aspi- 
rations after  other  "high  places"  as  well;  and 
Satan  and  his  host  will  often,  in  the  blindness  of 
zeal  not  according  to  knowledge,  be  identified, 
mutually,  with  the  contending  ecclesiastical  par- 
ties. The  reciprocation  of  compliments  will  not 
always  be  in  court  fashion. 

In  considering  all  this,  the  purpose  of  the  Church 
must  not  be  lost  sight  of.  The  Church  was  not  in- 
stituted on  earth  because  any  class  was  perfect: 
heaven  is  the  home  of  the  perfect,  not  earth.  The 
Church  arose  out  of  human  needs  of  divine  and 
human  help.  It  is  for  the  assistance  of  imperfect 
earthly  beings.  Its  work  is  the  strengthening  of 
the  weak,  the  encouraging  of  the  despondent,  the 
comforting  of  the  sorrowful,  the  educating  of  all 
in  divine  things,  the  edifying  of  all  in  holiness  of 
character,  till  all  shall  be  brought  unto  the  fullness 
of  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  perfect  man  in 
Christ. 

The  history  of  the  Church,  like  the  history  of 
every  other  institution,  has  its  lights  and  shades, 
its  graces  and  disgraces.  If  a  pretended  historian 
appear  in  the  role  of  a  colorist,  and  paints  wholly 
with  sky-blue  and  the  roseate  hues  of  dawn,  there 
will  not  be  wanting  on  tlie  other  side  colorists  also 
wlio  will  make  the  canvas  lurid,  in  true  Rembrandt 
style,  with  mingled  hues  of  smoke  and  flame,  as  if 
from  the  brimstone  pit  itself. 

Least  of  all  should  the  Christian  historian  try  to 
cover  up  any  ugly  blemish.     Honesty  requires  him 


Councils  and  Creeds.  305 

to  say,  like  Cromwell,  *'wart  or  nothing."  At- 
tempts at  concealing,  disguising,  explaining  away, 
will  make  him  to  appear  in  the  role  of  a  partisan; 
and  against  him,  forthwith,  will  rise  up  advocates 
with  briefs  for  the  other  side,  who  feel  it  their 
bounden  duty  to  make  out  the  strongest  case  of 
impeachment  possible. 

Confidence  in  his  cause  when  fairly  presented, 
with  all  detractions  required  by  certain  facts;  con- 
fidence in  the  eternal  foundation  of  the  Church 
upon  the  rock  of  righteousness;  confidence  in 
truth,  for  which  the  Church  stands,  as  alone  able 
to  make  free  and  to  bring  forth  all  good,  while 
error  only  is  harmful,  and  always  so;  confidence 
in  God,  ought  to  compel  the  historian  to  copy  the 
story  as  God  first  wrote  it  in  the  lives  of  men. 

We  are  now  about  to  enter  upon  the  sketching 
of  the  darkest  pictures  the  history  of  the  Church 
presents:  its  deeds  of  intolerance.  Zeal  for  what 
they,  rightly  or  wrongly,  deemed  essential  behefs, 
and  the  ineradicable  passions  of  the  human  heart, 
must  stand  for  explanation. 

I.  Ecumenical  Councils. 
Together  with  the  settlement  of  a  canon  of  Scrip- 
ture proceeded  the  difficult  task  of  determining  the 
rule  of  faith.  Naturally,  the  agreement  upon  a 
canon  is  only  provisional  to  the  formation  of  a 
creed.  The  question  of  the  former  would  never 
have  arisen  if  the  question  of  the  latter  had  not 
first  arisen.  It  was  evident  that  to  be  valid  a  doc- 
20 


3o6  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

trine,  tenet,  or  article  of  belief  must  be  held,  if 
held  at  all,  upon  a  basis  generally  accepted.  This 
was  provided  for  in  the  collection  of  books  agreed 
upon  as  sacred  and  as  finally  authoritative. 

The  first  centuries,  even  as  these  later  times, 
were  crowded  with  controversies.  Heresies  and 
sects  sprang  up  like  tares  in  wheat,  and  the  zeal- 
ous stewards  of  the  faith  wished  to  pluck  them  out, 
root  and  branch.  Councils  were  frequent,  dis- 
putes were  bitter;  there  was  much  at  stake — the 
salvation  of  the  world,  and  the  positions  and  lives 
of  the  disputants. 

This  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  a  brief  account 
of  the  main  controversies,  the  Ecumenical  Coun- 
cils, and  the  outcome  of  all  in  the  shape  of  creeds. 

In  the  book  of  Acts  we  have  an  account  of  the 
first  Church  council.  It  grew  out  of  a  lively  and 
extremely  important  controversy  between  two 
Christian  parties,  and  was  held  at  the  mother 
Church  in  Jerusalem,  about  A.D.  50.  It  was  the 
mother  of  Church  councils.  But  only  because  of 
its  primacy  of  time  is  it  here  spoken  of;  it  has  no 
place  in  the  list  of  Ecumenical  Councils.  Of  coun- 
cils in  general  it  should  be  remarked  that  there 
were  several  grades,  with  reference  to  the  extent 
of  their  jurisdiction.  The  parochial,  or  diocesan, 
was  lowest  in  rank.  It  was  presided  over  by  a 
bishop,  and  was  composed  of  the  clergy  of  his  di- 
ocese. The  provincial  was  the  next  higher  in 
rank.  It  was  presided  over  by  the  metropolitan, 
or  archbishop,  and  was  composed  of  the  bishops 


Councils  and  Creeds.  307 

of  his  province.  The  patriarchal  was  similar  to 
the  provincial,  being  presided  over  by  the  patri- 
arch, or  archbishop,  of  one  of  the  Eastern  capi- 
tals. Other  kinds  are  defined  by  different  writers ; 
but  the  truth  is  that  there  was  no  system  or  regu- 
lar gradation. 

As  important  as  were  oftentimes  the  acts  of  these 
lower  councils,  or  synods,  we  shall  confine  our  at- 
tention solely  to  the  class  known  as  Ecumenical — 
that  is,  general,  or  universal,  beginning  in  the 
fourth  century.  The  first  five  of  these,  and  the 
most  important,  fall  within  our  period,  and  are  as 
follows :   (  I )  the  first  Council  of  Nic^a,  A.D.  325  ; 

(2)  the  first  Council  of  Constantinople,  A.D.  381; 

(3)  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  A.D.  431;  (4)  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon,  A.D.  451;  (5)  the  second 
Council  of  Constantinople,  A.D.  553. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  dates  and  designa- 
tions, there  was  no  regularity  of  meeting,  either  in 
respect  to  time  or  place.  They  were  summoned 
only  when  required  for  the  settlement  of  some 
general  controversy.  There  was  also  no  pre- 
scribed rule  of  representation.  The  reigning  em- 
peror, by  the  advice  of  chosen  bishops,  who  hap- 
pened at  the  time  to  enjoy  his  favor,  sent  forth  in- 
vitations to  whomsoever  he  would  have  attend  the 
proposed  council.  A  further  political  character 
was  given  the  councils  by  the  fact  that  the  emper- 
or, as  head  at  once  of  State  and  Church,  presided, 
either  in  person  or  by  proxy,  over  them.  Still 
more,  he  ratified  their  proceedings,  and  so  gave 


3o8  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

them  a  civil  character  and  the  authority  of  impe- 
rial decrees. 

An  exclusively  hierarchical  character  was  given 
the  councils  by  the  fact  that  no  grade  of  clergy 
lower  than  bishops  was  admitted  to  membership. 
While  deacons  and  presbyters  might  attend  with 
their  bishops,  they  had  no  part  in  the  proceedings, 
except  by  special  privilege.  As  regards  the  num- 
ber and  territorial  distribution  of  members  there 
was  also  no  regulation.  In  the  First  Ecumenical 
Council  there  v/ere  three  hundred  and  eighteen 
bishops ;  all  but  seven  of  them  were  from  the  East, 
although  at  the  time  there  were,  it  is  estimated,  only 
one  thousand  bishops  in  the  Eastern  Church,  while 
there  w^cre  eight  thousand  in  the  Western.  In  the 
Second  Council  there  were  only  one  hundred  and 
fifty  bishops,  and  all  were  from  the  East.  In  the 
Third  Council  there  were  one  hundred  and  sixty, 
or,  as  some  give  it,  one  hundred  and  ninety,  bish- 
ops, all  from  the  East;  and  in  the  Fourth  Coun- 
cil there  were,  out  of  five  hundred  and  twenty  del- 
egates, only  three  from  Rome  and  two,  by  chance, 
from  Africa.  The  fact  that  the  proceedings  of 
these  so-called  Ecumenical  Councils  were  subse- 
quently accepted  by  tlie  Catholic  Church  alone 
renders  the  title  justifiable.  Not  one  was  in  any 
true  sense  ecumenical. 

The  authority  of  these  councils  covered  two  do- 
mains: Discipline  and  Faith.  Their  rulings  con- 
cerning matters  of  discipline  required  the  votes 
of    a  majority,  and  were  called   canons.     A  rul- 


Councils  and  Creeds.  309 

ing  on  a  matter  of  faith  required  unanimity,  and 
was  called  a  doctrinal  decree,  or  dogma.  Their 
function,  in  other  words,  was  twofold — legisla- 
tive and  judicial ;  in  both  they  were  supreme  and 
final.  From  the  first  the  attribute  of  infallibility 
was  ascribed  to  their  acts,  and  their  commands 
were  spoken  of  by  themselves  as  "divine."  The 
formula,  "  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
to  us,"'  v^as  used  to  introduce  the  minutes  of  their 
proceedings. 

The  separate  occasion,  work,  and  significance 
of  each  Ecumenical  Council  must  now  be  dis- 
cussed. This  chapter  may  not  be  the  most  pleas- 
ing, it  is  yet  not  the  least  important,  in  all  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church. 

I.  As  the  Council  of  Nicsea  (A.D.  325)  was 
fully  described  under  the  account  of  the  Arian  dis- 
pute, which  it  was  summoned  to  decide,  it  can 
here  be  passed  over.  It  is  called,  by  preeminence, 
* '  the  great  and  holy  council. ' '  Athanasius  said  of 
it:  "  What  God  has  spoken  by  the  Council  of  Ni- 
caea  abides  forever."     His  words  seem  true. 

Arianism,  however,  was  not  to  be  so  easily  put 
down;  error  crushed  to  the  earth  will  often  rise 
again.  Besides,  Arianism  was  not  unmitigated 
error.  That  infinite  chasm  between  God  and 
man  was  its  fatal  mistake ;  it  was  this  chasm  that 
swallowed  it  up — not,  however,  till  it  rose  again 
after  the  council  that  anathematized  it.     The  law 

1  *E(Jo^£  yap  T(3  'Ayitfi  TLvevfiaTi  koX  rj/uv.     (Acts  xv.  a*^.) 


3io  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

of  reaction  operates  in  the  realm  of  mind  as  in  the 
realm  of  matter.  There  was  a  reaction  in  favor 
of  Arianism  which  placed  it  in  complete  ascenden- 
cy. The  imperial  throne  itself  was  occupied  by  a 
series  of  Arians.  But  the  heretical  party  came  to  be 
rent  by  internal  factions,  and,  being  unable  to  unite, 
went  the  way  of  every  house  divided  against  itself. 

When  in  this  era  Julian  *'  the  Apostate  "  came  to 
the  throne,  his  pohcy  was  to  tolerate  ail  Christian 
parties,  seeing  they  threatened  to  destroy  one  an- 
other.    It  was  an  age  full  of  strife. 

2.  But  now  an  orthodox  emperor  is  on  the 
throne — Theodosius  the  Great.  He  is  a  Nicene 
Christian,  having  been  educated  in  that  faith. 
He  straightway  (A.D.  380)  issues  an  edict  requir- 
ing all  his  subjects  to  confess  the  same  faith,  and 
threatening  punishment  to  all  who  refuse.  This 
is  imperial  compulsion  to  uniformity  of  thinking. 
After  their  forty  j^ears'  supremacy,  the  Arians  are 
all  expelled  from  the  capital,  and  a  council  is 
called  to  assemble  in  Constantinople,  to  put  its 
seal  upon  the  victory  of  orthodoxy,  and  to  deal 
with  a  new  heresy.  This  was  the  origin  of  the 
Second  Ecumenical  Council,  A.D.  387.  One 
hundred  and  eighty-six  bishops  assemble,  person- 
ally invited  by  the  emperor;  of  course  they  are 
mostly  Nicenes.  The  thirt3^-six  semi-Arians  do 
not  see  fit  to  remain,  and  the  **  orthodox"  party 
has  complete  sway.  It  is  constituted  entirely  of 
Orientals;  the  Latin  Church  is  not  represented. 
Still  it  is  listed  as  an  "Ecumenical"  Council. 


Councils  and  Creeds.  311 

The  matter  before  it  was  second  in  importance 
only  to  that  determined  by  the  Council  of  Nicsea 
fifty  years  before.  That  council  determined  the 
orthodox  doctrine  of  the  Son,  establishing  the 
fact  of  his  deity;  this  determined  the  orthodox 
doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  establishing  his  deity. 
And  the  article  embodying  this  tenet  was  added 
to  the  Nicene  Creed.  In  a  series  of  eight  canons 
seven  heresies  were  condemned,  chief  of  which 
was  the  heresy  of  Macedonius  concerning  the 
Holy  Spirit — a  heresy  that  repeated  Arianism,  only 
that  it  pertained  to  the  Third  Person  of  the  Trin- 
ity instead  of  the  Second. 

The  emperor  then  enacted  a  law  that  all  the 
churches  should  be  given  up  to  the  subcribers  of 
this  confession.  This  was  the  munificent  reward 
of  orthodoxy.  The  public  worship  of  heretics 
was  forbidden.  These  were  fruits  of  the  union 
of  Church  and  State. 

Arianism  therefore  was  stamped  out  by  the  tread, 
as  it  were,  of  the  imperial  army;  not  everywhere, 
however,  as  yet.  Many  of  the  barbarian  tribes 
were  converted  to  Christianity  when  this  type  of 
doctrine  prevailed,  and  therefore  they  were  Arian 
Christians.  The  Goths,  Suevi,  Vandals,  Burgun- 
dians,  and  Lombards  did  not  exchange  the  faith 
delivered  unto  them  in  the  beginning  until  the  last 
half  of  the  sixth  century,  and  then  on  the  field  of 
defeat  in  arms. 

3.  But  no  council,  parliament,  or  parley  of  arms 
ever  fixed  the  bounds  of  thought;   and  as  long  as 


312  The  Ch urch  of  th e  Fath ers . 

there  is  thinking  there  will  be  heresy.  Apollina- 
rianism  is  the  name  of  the  next  to  arise.  Apol- 
linaris,  bishop  of  Laodicea,  in  his  zeal  for  the  Ni- 
cene  tenet  of  the  deity  of  Christ,  went  so  far  as  to 
deny  the  completeness  of  his  humanity;  avoiding 
Scylla  too  far,  he  fell  into  Charybdis.  To  Christ 
he  allowed  a  human  body  and  human  soul,  but  not 
a  human  spirit;  this  last  was  divine.  Hence  **he 
made  Christ  a  middle  being  between  God  and  man, 
in  whom,  as  it  were,  one  part  divine  and  two  parts 
human  were  fused  in  the  unity  of  a  new  nature." 
This  was  a  speculative,  but  not  soundly  psycholog- 
ical, age.  This  error  was  condemned  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Constantinople,  but  not  suppressed.  The 
problem  of  the  twofold  nature  of  the  Son,  or  of 
the  relation  between  the  human  and  the  divine  in 
Christ,  was  only  now  raised,  not  settled.  The 
Council  of  Nicaga  had  granted  him  these  two  na- 
tures, and  left  their  relation  undetermined.  Every 
problem  of  thought  once  solved  becomes  the  basis 
of  another  unsolved.  And  thus  the  world  moves 
on;   thus  the  building  is  reared,  block  by  block. 

Furthermore,  they  reasoned  that,  since  Christ 
is  God  and  was  born  of  Mary,  then  Mary  is  the 
mother  of  God.  It  is  inevitable  that  this  title 
should  in  time  be  bestowed  upon  the  honored  Vir- 
gin. Where  should  this  occur  but  in  Ephesus, 
where  they  were  in  the  habit  of  worshiping  the 
chaste  t)iana,  divine  giver  of  light  and  life?  It 
was  here  the  worship  of  the  virgin  Mother  of  the 
true  Light  arose. 


Councils  and  Creeds.  313 

It  was  quite  as  inevitable  that  some  persons 
would  object  to  the  title  *' Mother  of  God"  be- 
ing applied  to  Mary.  The  trend  of  thought  had 
reached  its  reductio  ad  absurdum.  Nestorius,  pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople  after  A.  D.  428,  a  zealot 
for  orthodoxy,  and  a  fierce  persecutor  of  heretics, 
protested  against  such  blasphemy.  He  would  sub- 
stitute the  title  "Mother  of  Christ."  The  contro- 
versy spread  and  raged.  Hence  the  Council  of 
Ephesus  was  called,  A.D.  431.  The  disputants 
came  to  the  council  as  if  to  a  field  of  battle.  They 
were  attended  by  armed  escorts  and  a  motley 
retinue  of  monks,  slaves,  seamen,  and  rabble- 
rout.  In  moral  character  this  council  sinks  low- 
est of  all  the  Ecumenical  Councils.  Gregory  Na- 
zianzen,  who,  as  archbishop  of  Constantinople, 
presided  over  the  earlier  sessions  of  the  Ecumeni- 
cal Council  there  in  381,  declared  it  to  be  an  as- 
sembly of  cranes  and  geese.  This  would  have 
seemed  to  him  an  assembly  of  wolves.  Its  pro- 
cedure must  not  be  described.  Religious  zeal 
calls  forth  the  deepest  passions  of  the  soul,  and 
sometimes  they  are  transformed  into  the  flames  of 
the  pit.  Nestorius  in  the  end  was  fiercely  anathe- 
matized. 

The  spirit  of  the  age- — intolerant,  fanatical,  in- 
human— is  displayed  in  the  traditions  of  the  end 
of  Nestorius.  After  his  tongue  "was  gnawed  out 
by  worms  for  its  blasphemous  utterances,  so  the 
story  runs,  he  went  to  the  torments  of  the  fire 
which  is  never  quenched.     Even  yet  from  year  to 


314  T^he  Church  of  the  Fathers, 

year  a  fanatical  sect  in  Egypt  cast  stones  upon  his 
grave,  whereon,  they  say,  the  rain  of  heaven,  so 
impartial  commonly  to  the  evil  and  the  good,  never 
falls — making  an  exception  against  Nestorius.  Yet 
all  historians  agree  that  he  was  upright  and  honor- 
able in  his  life.  His  only  fault  was  calling  Mary 
the  ''Mother  of  Christ,"  instead  of  ''Mother  of 
God." 

The  sect  of  Nestorians  continues  to  this  day. 
Upon  the  coast  of  Malabar,  a  colony  of  seventy 
thousand  persons  calling  themselves  "Thomas 
Christians,"  believing  they  received  the  gospel 
from  St.  Thomas,  preserve  the  traditions  of  Nesto- 
rius. The  influence  of  the  Nestorians  in  the  East 
has  been  very  great.  Doubtless  Mohammed  ob- 
tained from  them  his  knowledge  of  Christianity, 
and,  in  consequence,  he  always  favored  and  pro- 
tected them. 

4.  One  controversy  follows  another.  Heresy  is 
hydra-headed — cut  off  one,  and  a  hundred  hiss  in 
its  stead. 

The  question  of  the  two  natures  in  the  God- 
man  developed  into  the  Eutychian  controversy. 
We  have  seen  one  extreme  of  the  development  of  Ni- 
cene  Christology  in  which  the  doctrine  of  two  per- 
sonalities in  Christ  was  arrived  at.  This  is  called 
Dyophysitism .  The  center  of  this  development  was 
Antioch,  and  its -extreme  manifestation  was  Nesto- 
rianism.  We  shall  now  see  the  other  extreme  of  the 
Nicene  doctrine  of  Christ  developing  into  the  op- 
posite error  in  which  the  human  nature  of  the  Son  is 


Councils  and  Creeds.  3^5 

absorbed  into  the  divine :  hence  this  is  called  Mono- 
physitism.  The  seat  of  this  school  of  Christology 
was  Alexandria,  and  Eutyches  was  its  chief  repre- 
sentative. According  to  his  view,  there  was  but 
one  nature — the  divine — in  Christ  after  the  incar- 
nation; and  therefore  *'God  was  born,"  "God 
suffered,"  **  God  was  crucified,"  and  "  God 
died."  Councils  were  held:  one  at  Constantino- 
ple, which  decided  for  two  natures;  one  at  Ephe- 
sus,  which  reversed  this  decision,  declaring  for 
Monophysitism. 

Pope  Leo,  protesting  against  a  council  that  had 
been  held  atEphesus  in  regard  to  the  controversy, 
which  council  he  terms  a  '*  Robber  Synod,"  urges 
the  calling  of  another  Ecumenical  Council.  His 
choice  of  place  is  orthodox  Italy,  but  Attila's  rav- 
ages make  this  impracticable.  The  Emperor  Mar- 
cian  decides  upon  Nicaea,  hoping  the  memory  of  the 
first  and  noblest  of  the  councils  will  tend  to  make  the 
bishops  mindful  of  their  dignity.  Therefore  at 
Nicaea,  in  the  year  451,  bishops  to  the  number  of 
five  hundred  and  twenty  (or  six  hundred  and 
thirty)  assemble.  But  such  a  turbulent  spirit 
forthwith  breaks  out  that  they  are  summoned  to 
Chalcedon,  just  across  the  Hellespont  from  Con- 
stantinople, that  the  imperial  court  and  senate  may 
awe  them  into  moderation.  The  attempt  was  made 
on  both  sides,  it  seems,  to  carry  the  day  by  ex- 
clamations, shouts,  and  denunciations,  rather  than 
by  arguments. 

On  the  reading  of  the  Nicene-Constantinopoli- 


3i6  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

tan  Creed,  the  bishops  shouted,  in  the  midst  of 
many  other  things,  "This  is  the  faith  of  the  fa- 
thers !  .  .  .  Anathema  to  him  who  beheves  other- 
wise !  "  Dyophysitism — that  is,  the  doctrine  of 
two  natures  in  one  person  in  inseparable  union — 
won  the  day.  The  council  concluded  with  the 
adoption  of  the  traditional  symbol,  or  creed,  above 
named,  to  which  it  added  a  number  of  articles  more 
explicitly  defining  its  doctrine  of  the  two  natures. 

The  Eutychians,  or  Monophy sites,  were  ban- 
ished and  their  writings  were  burned.  Monks  en- 
gaged in  bloody  fights,  and  the  rabble  joined  in. 
This  was  the  last  of  the  councils  that  dealt  with  a 
problem  of  supreme  importance.  It  completed  the 
orthodox  doctrine  of  Christ. 

The  Monoph3^site  controversy  continued  with 
great  agitation  to  the  whole  Church  and  the  empire. 
Justinian  endeavored  by  all  means  in  his  power  to 
effect  a  reconciliation  of  the  parties,  but  without  suc- 
cess. An  edict  known  as  the '*  Henoticon,"  issued 
by  Zeno  in  482,  had  failed  to  bring  about  a  com- 
promise and  union  ;  now  another  imperial  edict  in 
544,  designed  by  Justinian  to  the  same  end,  proved 
equally  futile.  This  edict,  known  as  the  *'  Edict 
of  the  Three  Chapters,"  condemning  three  Nesto- 
rian  treatises,  was  confirmed  by  the  Ecumenical 
Council  which  Justinian  summoned  in  553  to  meet 
in  Constantinople.  By  the  Dyophysitic  decisions 
of  this  council  many  schisms  were  caused,  inas- 
much as  all  who  were  of  a  contrary  opinion  were 
ejected  from  the  Catholic  Church. 


Councils  and  Creeds.  3^7 

One  may  regret  to  record  or  to  read  the  un- 
pleasant facts  of  these  years  of  **  theological  mad- 
ness." Doubtless  a  deep  concern  for  supreme 
matters  of  speculation  was  often  degraded  by  a 
zeal  not  according  either  to  knowledge  or  to  char- 
ity. One  laments  to  see  orthodoxy,  *'  right  opin- 
ion," becoming  all-important  and  the  manner  of 
life  disregarded.  Dioscorus,  archbishop  of  Alex- 
andria, who  presided  at  the  '*  Robber  Synod"  of 
Ephesus,  in  449,  surrounded  by  armed  soldiers, 
dismissed  the  gravest  charges  of  immorality,  in- 
cluding unchastity,  against  a  bishop,  with  this  re- 
mark; ''  If  you  have  an  accusation  against  his  or- 
thodoxy, we  will  receive  it;  but  we  have  not  come 
together  to  pass  jugment  concerning  unchastity." 

Purity  of  faith,  so  called,  has  become  of  such 
extreme  importance  that  purity  of  life  is  not  even 
thought  of.  A  synod  held  at  Illyricum,  in  373,  or 
thereabout,  showed  in  one  of  its  utterances  the 
trend  of  thought:  *'  For  them  that  preach  that  the 
Trinity  is  of  one  substance,  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  prepared."  Right  ideas  about  the  relation  sub- 
sisting between  the  two  natures  of  the  Son  are  more 
important  than  in  right  relations  with  one's  fellow- 
men.  Immorality  is  not  to  be  considered  when  a 
metaphysical  hair  is  to  split.  All  this  reveals  how 
far  the  Church  has  departed  from  the  pure,  enno- 
bling thought  of  Clement  of  Alexandria:  ''The 
sacrifice  of  the  Church  is  the  Word  breathing  as 
incense  from  holy  souls.  The  righteous  soul  is  the 
truly  sacred  altar,  and  incense  arising  from  it  is 


3i8  The  Chwrch  of  the  Fathers. 

holy  prayer."  And  how  far  it  has  forgotten  the 
sweet  words  of  the  Lord:  **Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you 

rest." 

2.  Creeds. 

The  Ecumenical  Councils  defined  the  moral  reg- 
ulations of  the  clergy  in  brief  rules  known  as  can- 
ons. In  concise  and  carefull}^  worked  formulas 
they  also  prescribed  the  beliefs  which  should  be 
held  by  all  bishops  who  were  to  be  accounted 
catholic  and  orthodox.  These  were  called  "sym- 
bols of  faith,"  or  creeds. 

The  Creed  of  Nicaa  has  already  been  presented 
in  connection  with  the  Arian  controversy,  out  of 
which  it  grew.  It  needs  here  only  to  be  added 
that  the  Second  Ecumenical  Council,  that  of  Con- 
stantinople, reaffirmed  this  without  any  alteration; 
but,  in  addition  to  this  Nicene  formula,  framed, 
in  opposition  to  newborn  heresies,  another  creed, 
which  had  its  origin  in  the  mother  Church  at  Jeru- 
salem. The  Council  of  Ephesus,  the  Third  Ecu- 
menical, also  reaffirmed  the  Creed  of  Nicaga  and 
forbade  the  making  or  using  of  any  other.  The 
Fourth  Ecumenical,  at  Chalcedon,  had  both  the 
Nicene  and  the  Constantinopolitan  formulas 
brought  before  it  and  discussed  them  at  length, 
with  the  result  that  the  latter  was  adopted.  Now, 
this  creed  of  Constantinople,  which  Cyril,  bishop 
of  Jerusalem,  presented  to  the  council  as  his  pro- 
fession of  faith,  and  as  of  ancient  authority  in  the 
rnother  Church,  came  to  be  confused  with  the  Ni- 


Councils  and  Creeds.  319 

cene  Creed,  which,  it  was  supposed,  was  revised 
and  reaffirmed,  as  revised  by  the  Second  Council. 
It  was,  therefore,  called  either  the  Nicene  or  the 
Nicene-Constantinopolitan  Creed.  The  two  creeds 
bore  important  marks  of  difference  only  for  that 
age,  and  a  modern  reader  might  pore  over  them  a 
long  time  and  wonder  why  they  are  called  separate 
creeds.  Only  a  close  study  of  the  sharp  meta- 
physical controversies  of  that  era  will  reveal  to  him 
the  magnitude  of  syllabic  alterations. 

It  was  in  the  Eastth^t  the  Christological  contro- 
versies of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  engaged 
the  Church ;  and  therefore  it  was  in  the  East  that 
the  councils  were  held  and  the  foregoing  creeds 
were  formed.  In  the  West,  however,  at  the  same 
time  the  theoretical  doctrines  of  the  Church  were 
likewise  taking  creedal  shape:  the  result,  in  the 
course  of  several  centuries,  was  the  * 'Apostles' 
Creed." 

There  is  an  interesting  tradition  concerning  the 
origin  of  this  honored  symbol  of  the  faith  to  this 
effect.  The  twelve  apostles,  being  assembled  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  after  the  ascension,  before 
their  separation  to  go  into  various  regions  to  preach 
the  gospel,  desired  to  have  a  safeguard  of  the 
unity  of  their  doctrines.  Hence,  inspired  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  Peter  said,  '*  I  beHeve  in  God  the 
Father  Almighty";  Andrew  continued,  *'And  in 
Jesus  Christ,  his  only  Son,  our  Lord"  ;  James  the 
elder  went  on,  '*  Who  was  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Ghost";  then    followed  John,    "Suffered   under 


3 20  The  Ch u rch  of  the  Fath ers . 

Pontius  Pilate  '* ;  Philip,  **  Descended  into  hades"  ; 
Thomas,  '*  The  third  day  he  rose  again  from  the 
dead  "  ;  and  so  on ,  till  Matthias  completed  the  work 
with  the  words  *'  life  everlasting.     Amen." 

This  tradition  seems  to  have  originated  in  Spain 
along  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  century.  Our  pres- 
ent text  of  the  Creed  dates  probably  from  about 
A.D.  500,  though  some  alterations  were  made  after 
that  time.  It  did  not  assume  its  final  form  until  in 
the  eighth  century.  It  had  its  beginning,  how- 
ever, in  the  apostolic  baptismal  formula,  and  its 
growth  can  be  traced,  phrase  by  phrase.  Igna- 
tius (A.D.  115)  gives  all  the  essential  elements  of 
it.  Aristides  (A.D.  125),  Irena?us  (A.D.  iSo). 
TertulHan  (A.D.  200),  Cyprian  (A.D.  250), 
Marcellus  (A.D.  341).  Rufinus  (A.D.  390),  re- 
veal alike  the  mutability  and  the  development  of 
the  Creed,  as  regards  the  form  of  expression  and 
the  slow  addition  of  items  to  its  contents.  As  late 
as  A.D.  550the  phrase  *'  the  communion  of  saints  " 
was  added;  and  *' descended  into  hell"  was  first 
given  by  Rufinus.  Parminius  of  Gaul  (died  75S) 
is  the  first  to  gfive  it  in  its  ultimate  form. 

While  there  is  much  in  common  between  the 
classic  creed  of  the  East  (the  Nicene-Constanti- 
nopolitan)  and  the  classic  creed  of  the  West  (the 
Apostles"),  they  each  bear  the  character  of  the 
different  races  and  influences  which  produced 
them. 

Another  popular  formula  in  the  West  is  the  one 
which  bears  the  honored  name  of  Athanasius.     But 


Councils  and  Creeds.  321 

as  Athanasius  wrote  in  Greek  and  the  original  of 
this  was  evidently  Latin ;  as  it  bears  no  likeness  to 
the  Nicene  formula  which  represented  the  faith  of 
Athanasius;  as  it  was  never  accepted  in  the  East, 
the  home  of  its  supposed  author;  and  as  it  pre- 
supposes the  controversies  of  the  fifth  century,  it 
could  not  have  been  written  by  Athanasius. 

The  evidence  seems  to  show  that  it  originated 
out  of  popular  preaching  in  Gaul  in  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries.  In  about  670  we  find  a  creed 
like  this  in  that  region,  attributed  to  the  champion 
of  the  Nicene  formula.  Arianism  at  this  time  was 
strong  in  the  West,  and  this  symbol  of  faith  was 
formed  and  recited,  probably  chanted  as  a  part  of 
the  liturgical  service,  in  the  churches  and  monas- 
teries. It  is  called  by  Dr.  Schaff  a  "dogmatic 
psalm,"  and  by  Professor  Allen  the  ''creed  of  a 
liberal  Christianity  in  that  distant  age." 

Some  wise  words,  about  creeds  in  general,  of  the 
first-named  historian  are  worthy  to  be  borne  in 
mind.  '' Each  symbol,"  writes  Dr.  Schaff,  *' bears 
the  impress  of  its  age,  the  historical  situation  out 
of  which  it  arose."  And  again:  *'They  are  mile- 
stones and  finger-boards  in  the  history  of  Christian 
doctrine."  He  also  admits  that  they  *'may  be 
improved  by  the  progressive  knowledge  of  the 
Church."  His  characterization  of  a  creed  as  "a 
doctrinal  poem  written  under  the  inspiration  of  di- 
vine truth"  has  the  same  liberal  and  wholesome 
tendency. 

St.  Vincentius,  in  that  age  of  creed-making,  gave 
21 


322  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

the  Church  a  safe  maxim:   ''  In  essentials  unity,  in 
doubtful  things  liberty,  in  all  things  charity." 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

W.  P.  Du  Boise's  "  Ecumenical  Councils,"  in  "Ten  Epochs  of 
Church  History,"  is  a  comprehensive  single-volume  treatise. 

Dr.  Schaff' s  "Creeds  of  Christendom  "  (three  volumes,  Harper 
and  Brothers)  is  indispensable  to  one  who  would  make  a  thor- 
ough study. 


GREGORY  THE  GREAT— CONCLUSION. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

GREGORY  THE  GREAT— CONCLUSION. 

I. 

"The  government  of  souls  is  the  art  of  arts." — Pastoral 
Care. 

In  great  epochs  of  history  some  one  man,  or 
group  of  men,  will  usually  be  found  to  have  gath- 
ered up  and  incorporated  in  personal  character  the 
general  trend  and  potency  of  ideas  that  are  creat- 
ing a  new  era  for  mankind,  bringing  out  of  the 
past  its  various  products  to  perfection  and  shaping 
out  of  its  converged  forces  new  lines  of  movement 
and  new  organs  of  work  for  the  future.  Such  a 
man  was  Pope  Gregory,  called  the  Great.  The 
son  of  a  noble  Roman  family  of  senatorial  rank, 
he  was  heir  to  Roman  strength  and  dignity  of  char- 
acter and  Roman  ability  for  government.  Thor- 
oughly educated  in  the  arts  and  sciences  then 
taught,  and  trained  to  the  law,  he  was  appointed 
by  Justinian  II.  -praetor  urbanus  at  the  unusually 
early  age  of  thirty  years. 

Born  some  ten  years  after  Benedict  of  Nursia 
had  founded  his  monastic  order,  after  the  death  of 
his  father  he  displayed  a  strong  bent  for  a  religious 
and  austere  life,  and  betook  himself  to  the  monas- 
tery. But  from  his  cell,  where  his  fastings  were 
so  extreme  as  to  endanger  his  life,  he  was  sum- 

(325) 


326  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

moned  by  the  pope  to  go  as  his  ambassador  td 
the  imperial  court  at  Constantinople.  Remaining 
there  in  this  high  official  capacity  seven  years,  he 
gained  that  knowledge  of  the  governmental  affairs 
of  the  empire,  and  that  acquaintance  in  particular 
with  Eastern  customs  and  ambitions,  which  served 
him  well  in  later  years.  On  returning  to  Rome  he 
reentered  the  monastery,  probably  about  the  year 
585.  He  records  the  five  years  following,  spent  in 
the  cell,  as  the  most  peaceful  and  happy  of  his  life. 
But  he  was  again  to  be  called  forth  to  active  en- 
gagements. On  the  death  of  Pelagius  II.,  in  590, 
both  people  and  clergy  of  Rome  clamored  for 
Gregory  as  pope.  He  besought  the  emperor  not 
to  confirm  the  election;  he  endeavored  to  escape, 
setting  out  to  Britain  to  preach  to  the  fair-faced 
Angles,  of  whom  he  had  seen  slaves  in  the  mar- 
ket place;  but  his  efforts  proved  futile.  Before 
his  confirmation  he  summoned  the  people  to  re- 
pentance and  to  an  earnest  seeking  of  God's  favor 
upon  the  city  and  the  empire.  Organizing  seven 
companies  of  the  people — clergy,  laymen,  monks, 
nuns,  widows,  married  women,  and  children  and 
paupers — he  thus  instituted  what  was  called  the 
Septiform  Litany;  and  these  companies,  setting 
out  from  different  churches,  marched  through  va- 
rious streets  to  a  common  meeting  place — the  ba- 
silica of  St.  Peter,  on  the  Vatican — chanting  the 
litany.  Legend  adds  that  then  the  vision  of  an 
angel,  sheathing  his  sword  above  the  statue  of 
Hadrian,  appeared  to  Gregory  in  token  that  the 


Gregory  the  Great — Conclusion.  327 

plague  then  afflicting  the  city  was  stayed;  which 
miracle  is  commemorated  by  the  Castle  of  St.  An- 
gelo. 

Gregory  maintained  the  same  character  and 
manner  of  life  in  the  episcopal  chair  that  he  had 
exhibited  in  the  monkish  cell.  With  him,  indeed, 
as  has  been  said,  monasticism  ascended  the  papal 
throne.  He  displayed  equal  zeal  for  private  ascet- 
ic living,  whereby  he  might  live  close  to  God,  and 
for  public  activity,  whereby  he  might  make  the 
Church  in  all  things  supreme.  A  beautiful  sen- 
tence in  that  excellent  book  of  his — still  worthy  to 
be  a  preacher's  manual — the  ''  Pastoral  Care,"  sets 
forth  the  golden  mean  to  be  observed  in  the  reli- 
gious life:  *'  He,  then,  who  so  pants  after  the  beauty 
of  his  Maker  as  to  neglect  the  care  of  his  neigh- 
bors, or  so  attends  to  the  care  of  his  neighbors  as 
to  grow  languid  in  divine  love,  whichever  of  these 
two  things  it  may  be  that  he  neglects,  knows  not 
what  it  is  to  have  twice-dyed  scarlet  in  the  adorn- 
ment of  his  ephod." 

We  have  seen  how  Leo  the  Great  asserted  his 
right,  as  the  heir  of  St.  Peter,  to  rule  over  various 
^distant  provinces,  and  exercised  that  authority  al- 
most with  imperial  haughtiness.  In  the  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  between  these  eminent  rulers 
of  the  Church  a  continual  increase  of  power  had 
been  gained  by  Rome,  until  now,  conditions  great- 
ly favoring,  Gregory  converted  that  papal  stool 
into  an  imperial  throne. 

Another  barbarian  invasion  had  occurred — that 


328  The  Church  oj  the  Pathers. 

of  the  Lombards  under  Alboin,  in  568 ;  and  there- 
after one  invasion  followed  another,  spreading 
over  the  entire  peninsula.  The  seat  of  empire 
since  Constantine's  time  had  been  in  the  East,  and 
an  exarch  at  Ravenna  had  ruled  the  West.  But 
now  this  government  by  the  Church  had  become 
exceedingly  weak,  being  unable  to  defend  the 
country.  This  was  the  Roman  bishop's  opportu- 
nity. The  city  looked  to  him  in  all  matters,  and 
he  assumed  entire  contol  of  temporal  as  of  spirit- 
ual affairs. 

To  begin  with,  Gregory's  own  ancestral  estates 
were  large  in  various  districts  of  Italy  and  Sicily. 
He  administered  some  of  these  as  property  of  the 
Church,  others  he  bestowed  upon  monasteries. 
But  the  whole  realm  was  now  governed  by  him  as 
of  necessity  the  protector  of  the  people,  the  ad- 
ministrator of  justice,  the  feeder  of  the  poor,  the 
sole  defense  against  the  Lombards,  with  whose 
kings  he  made  terms  which  saved  the  city. 

The  divers  forms  of  Gregory's  extraordinary 
activity  may  be  stated  briefly,  while  a  volume 
would  be  required  to  do  full  justice  to  their  merits. 
In  the  tirst  place,  he  exalted  the  sacerdotal  power 
of  the  Church  far  beyond  what  it  had  been.  From 
his  time,  and  because  of  his  influence,  the  priest- 
hood had  a  larger  measure  of  authority,  not  only 
in  the  Church,  but  in  the  empire.  Secondly,  he 
raised  the  power  of  the  papacy  to  all  but  abso- 
lute sway.  Over  all  provinces,  East  and  West,  as 
bishop  of  Rome,  the   "  servant  of  servants,"  he 


Gregory  the  Great — Conclusion.  329 

exercised  commanding  authority.  Thirdly,  he  en- 
riched the  literature,  the  ritual,  and  the  service  of 
the  whole  Church.  The  Roman  Ordinal  is  his 
creation.  He  introduced  a  new  mode  of  chanting 
— that  is,  the  *' Gregorian  Chant" — richer  than 
the  Ambrosian;  he  instituted  a  school  of  choris- 
ters, and  trained  them,  to  accompany  the  mis- 
sionaries whom  he  sent  out  into  the  regions  of  the 
North.  Fourthly,  as  a  converter  both  of  heathens 
and  of  heretics,  especially  the  barbarians  in  Gaul, 
England,  and  German}-,  and  the  numerous  tribes 
that  had  accepted  Arianism,  his  service  marked  an 
epoch.  The  authority  of  the  Church,  which  had 
been  increasing  for  generations,  now  came  to  be 
supreme  in  all  the  affairs  of  men — temporal,  intel- 
lectual, and  spiritual.  Fifthly,  as  virtual  sovereign 
of  Rome  he  exhibited  the  same  high  efficiency 
which  characterized  him  as  an  administrator  of 
his  own  large  estates,  and  as  the  ruler  of  the 
Church  in  its  diverse  regions. 

The  first  period  of  Christian  history  of  six  hun- 
dred years  was  consummated,  and  the  second  of 
nearly  one  thousand  years,  known  as  the  Middle 
Ages,  was  inaugurated  by  the  papal  reign  of  Grego- 
ry the  Great.  A  passage  of  some  length  from  the 
classic  **  Pastoral  Care"  will  worthily  conclude 
our  brief  account  of  his  life,  character,  and  work. 
If  for  *' prelate"  the  reader  will  appropriately  sub- 
stitute ''preacher,"  he  will  have  a  characteriza- 
tion as  true  and  noble  as  any  age  or  writer  has  to 
offer:   *'The  conduct  of  the  prelate  ought  so  far 


330  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

to  transcend  the  conduct  of  the  people  as  the  life 
of  a  shepherd  is  wont  to  exalt  him  above  the  flock. 
For  one  whose  estimation  is  such  that  the  people 
are  called  his  flock  is  bound  anxiously  to  consider 
what  great  necessity  is  laid  upon  him  to  maintain 
rectitude.  It  is  necessary,  then,  that  in  thought 
he  should  be  pure,  in  action  chief;  discreet  in 
keeping  silence,  profitable  in  speech ;  a  near  neigh- 
bor to  every  one  in  sympathy,  exalted  above  all  in 
contemplation;  a  familiar  friend  of  good  livers 
through  humility,  unbending  against  the  vices  of 
evil-doers  through  zeal  for  righteousness ;  not  re- 
laxing in  his  care  for  what  is  inward  from  being 
occupied  in  outward  things,  nor  neglecting  to  pro- 
vide for  outward  things  in  his  solicitude  for  what 
is  inward.'* 

Gregory  was  pope  from  590  to  604.  In  his 
Latin  epitaph  occurs  a  splendid  line  which  gives 
him  credit  of  having  lived  according  to  the  clerical 
ideal  he  had  outlined — ^'' Implebatque  actit  quicquid 
ser7none  docebat'' — which  ma}'  be  translated  by 
Chaucer's  couplet  concerning  his  village  parson, 
of  whom  he  wrote  that 

Christes  lore,  and  his  apostles  twelve 

He  taughte,  but  first  he  folwede  it  himselve. 

II. 

The  writer  would  gladly  hope  that  whoever  has 
followed  him  through  these  pages,  because  either 
of  interest  or  strong  sense  of  duty,  may  have  been 
struck,  now  with  the  simple  beauty,  now  with  the 


Gregory  the  Great — Conclusion.  331 

great  majesty,  yet  another  time  with  the  penetrat- 
ing truth,  the  lofty  reach  of  thought,  or  noble  eleva- 
tion of  passion,  which  belonged  to  the  many  ex- 
cerpts that  have  been  made  herein  from  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Fathers.  If  there  is  any  splendor  in 
this  book,  it  radiates  from  their  thick-sown  truths 
shining  like  so  many  stars.  If  it  prove  to  have  any 
merit,  it  will  be  that  of  begetting  a  desire  to  drink 
further  at  the  sources,  to  seek  inspiration  and 
knowledge  and  wisdom  from  the  Fathers  them- 
selves. 

As  the  authors  of  Holy  Writ  spoke  the  truth 
without  any  glozing  concerning  the  grand  men  of 
their  elder  day — Abraham  and  Jacob,  David  and 
Solomon — so,  too,  it  seemed  to  this  writer  he 
should  write  only  truth,  having  sufficient  apprecia- 
tion of  the  loftiness  of  life  and  aim  and  general 
purity  of  spirit  of  these  great  men  and  good  of  our 
elder  time,  that  he  thought  the  whole  truth  might 
be  told.  He  has  trusted  also  that  the  reader  has 
sensibly  kept  in  mind  that  we  have  this  treasure  of 
heavenly  truth  in  earthen  vessels. 

Both  the  inward  and  the  outward  consolidation 
of  the  Church  was  now  accomplished.  Her  doc- 
trines were  defined  and  clearly  stated,  her  creeds 
were  formulated  and  confirmed  by  many  councils. 
She  knew,  and  the  world  knew,  what  Christianity, 
as  a  system  of  beliefs,  as  a  theology,  stood  for  and 
preached.  We  may  now  rebel  at  the  strictness  of 
the  molds  into  which  such  vast  and  indefinable 
truths  were  compressed;   but,  for  that  age,  defi- 


332  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

niteness,  compactness,  positiveness,  were  demand- 
ed. There  was  a  deeper  wisdom  at  work  in  this 
formulative  process  than  appears,  except  to  the 
student  who  deeply  considers  the  conditions  and 
requirements  of  the  times.  That  age  must  not  be 
judged  by  our  own.  We  advance  toward  greater 
freedom ;  we  are  ever  coming  under  the  sway  of 
higher  purposes  and  purer  motives. 

The  outward  organization  of  the  Church  was 
Hkewise  now  practically  complete ;  and  the  firm- 
ness and  rigor  of  her  S3^stem  of  discipline  and  gov- 
ernment, prescription  of  duties  and  offices,  grada- 
tion of  the  hierarch}^  definition  of  sacraments,  and 
invention  of  imposing  ceremonies,  find  an  equal 
justification  in  our  minds  when  we  consider  the 
mission  of  the  Church  and  the  character  of  the 
peoples  she  was  called  upon  to  civilize,  to  reduce 
to  order,  to  teach  to  obey,  and  to  educate  in  the 
Christian  virtues.  Herein  was,  to  a  now  almost 
inconceivable  extent,  a  source  of  power  and  im- 
pressiveness. 

We  learn  from  history  how  to  judge  rightly,  in 
any  particular  epoch,  of  the  degree  of  liberty  that 
is  safe,  or  of  absolutism  that  is  just;  and  whether 
full  toleration  was  always  to  be  allowed,  or  some 
enforcement  of  conformity  was  required  by  the  ex- 
igencies of  the  special  time.  On  these  matters 
some  reflections  seem  appropriate  at  this  place. 
In  ancient  times,  it  is  first  to  be  remarked,  the 
union  of  Church  and  State,  the  close  and  vital 
connection  of  religion  and  politics,  made  freedom 


Gregory  the  Great — Conclusion,  333 

of  thought  a  social  danger  far  greater  than  is  easy 
for  us  to  conceive.  Toleration  in  any  government 
of  antiquity  was  a  memorable,  because  an  extreme- 
ly rare,  thing.  Intolerance  was  a  policy  universally 
necessitated  by  the  religio-political  constitution  of 
society.  A  religious  heretic  was  a  political  enemy, 
a  foe  to  society  deserving  of  banishment  or  death. 
Even  as  late  as  the  era  of  the  Reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  Christian  centuries,  in 
Germany,  in  Switzerland,  in  France,  in  England, 
heretics  were  punished,  tortured,  imprisoned, 
drowned,  and  burned,  according  to  this  theory  of 
Church  and  State. 

The  republics  of  Greece,  so  often  held  up  for 
our  admiration — and  justly  too — were,  on  princi- 
ple, intolerant  of  new  doctrines  of  the  gods,  and 
persecuted  heretics.  While  an  admirable  liberty 
in  philosophical  or  scientific  thought  was  permit- 
ted, an  attack,  open  or  concealed,  upon  the  gods 
as  popularly  conceived,  scoffing  at  the  ceremonies 
of  religion,  the  dissemination  of  skeptical  notions 
— this  was  vigilantly  repressed  by  the  civil  govern- 
ment, and  offenders  were  punished  with  varying 
degrees  of  severity.  Socrates  was  but  one  of 
many  sages  who  suffered  as  teachers  of  new  and 
dangerous  doctrines.  The  most  serious  crimes 
were  infractions  of  religious  legislation,  and  death 
was  the  penalty  of  impiety. 

It  was  in  the  Eastern,  or  Hellenic,  Church  that 
theology  first  arose,  that  heresies  sprang  up,  that 
great   controversies  earhest   raged,   that,   finally, 


334  ^^^<^  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

creeds  and  rigid  statements  of  doctrine — dogmas 
— were  formulated  and  orthodoxy  was  defined. 
Thus  the  young  Church  proved  herself  the  heir 
to  the  Greek  modes  of  thought.  The  Greek  race 
attached  supreme  importance  to  right  thinking 
(o/o^o8o|ta,  orthodoxy),  and  dealt  vigorously  with 
all  heresy  (ar/ueo-ts).  It  is  significant  that  this  class 
of  words  are  of  Hellenic  origin. 

Rome,  on  the  other  hand,  required  an  equally 
strict  outward  conformity.  Thought  was  the  first 
concern  of  Greece;  action  was  the  first  concern 
of  Rome.  Hence  to  the  latter  fell  the  task  of  cre- 
ating institutions  which  should  embody  and  express 
Greek  ideas  and  doctrines,  and  of  perfecting  an 
organization  and  of  developing  a  system  of  disci- 
pline and  a  propaganda  which  are  the  most  mar- 
velous achievement  in  history. 

Toleration,  therefore,  neither  in  the  East  nor  in 
the  West,  neither  in  thought  nor  in  action,  could 
be  found  in  the  states  of  antiquity  nor  in  their  heir, 
the  Christian  Church. 

Some  of  the  teachings  of  this  history  may  be 
gathered  up  into  a  few  concluding  paragraphs. 
If  the  reader  has  discerned  the  force  and  supreme 
value  of  personality  in  the  making  of  history,  he 
has  acquired  a  truth  of  the  highest  importance. 
This  book  has  been  made  largely  biographical  be- 
cause of  the  extent  of  individual  influence  in  shap- 
ing institutions  and  in  determining  epochs  and 
events.  The  fact  of  popular  movements  and  deep 
general  undercurrents  has  not  been  overlooked; 


Gregory  the  Great — Conclusion.  335 

but  at  least  some  man  born  of  and  for  the  time 
sums  all  up  in  himself,  adds  a  personal  element, 
and  gives  living  reality  and  perpetuity,  in  the  form 
of  an  institution  or  organization,  to  what  before 
was  a  mass  of  chaotic  ideas  or  mere  blind  feelings. 
Again,  the  power  of  Christianity  as  a  system  of 
truth,  and  as  itself  the  embodiment  of  a  Life,  will 
impress  itself  on  the  mind,  along  with  the  fact  of 
the  strength  and  marvelous  endurance  of  the  Church 
as  the  visible  institution  of  Christianity.  The  per- 
petual need  of  moral  heroism  and  of  boldness  both 
of  thought  and  action  will  be  an  inevitable  infer- 
ence, since  every  victory  was  gained  through  sac- 
rifice and  every  position  won  and  held  at  the  cost 
of  life. 

Other  lessons  it  is  well  to  look  for,  and  to  re- 
member when  learned,  namely,  that  extreme  or- 
thodoxy becomes  heterodoxy;  that  overstrictness 
drives  to  revolt;  that  truth  is  seldom  or  never  the 
exclusive  possession  of  one  party,  and  error  the  ex- 
clusive portion  of  the  other;  that  progress  changes 
beliefs  and  practices,  once  serviceable  and  edu- 
cative, into  superstitions  and  obstacles  to  further 
advance;  and  that,  finally,  we  must  strive  to  make 
the  same  advance  for  our  generation  that  the  true 
heroes  of  the  faith,  **  the  men  of  light  and  leading," 
in  other  generations  made  for  theirs. 

The  inculcation  of  a  liberal  and  charitable  atti- 
tude toward  all  men  who  differ  in  doctrine  from 
ourselves,  and  the  broadening  of  our  minds  to  a 
larger  appreciation  of  the  many  sides  of  truth  and 


33^  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

the  many  modes  of  its  expression,  should  be  a  chief 
result  of  this  study.  The  heretics  of  yesterday 
have  not  seldom  been  the  prophets  of  to-day,  and 
we  *' gather  up  their  ashes  into  History's  golden 
urn." 

The  profoundly  significant  saying  of  TertuUian 
is  worthy  of  being  kept  in  mind:  **  Our  Lord 
Christ  has  surnamed  himself  Truth,  not  Custom. 
.  .  .  Whatever  savors  of  opposition  to  truth,  this 
will  be  heresy,  even  though  it  be  ancient  custom." 
And  Cyprian  well  says  to  the  same  effect:  *'For 
custom  without  truth  is  the  antiquity  of  error." 
Our  own  poet-prophet,  Lowell,  has  given  us  a  true 
watchword : 

New  occasions  teach  new  duties;  time  makes  ancient  good  un- 
couth: 

They  must  upward  still,  and  onward,  who  would  keep  abreast 
of  truth. 

No  man,  no  body  of  men,  no  generation  of  men, 
were  ever  yet  able  to  grasp  the  whole  and  final 
truth  itself,  but  were  able  only  to  have  insights, 
oftener  but  glimpses,  of  some  aspects  and  features 
of  the  reflected  image.  The  study  of  Church  his- 
tory must  tend  to  make  all  true  men  humble,  free 
from  bitterness  in  necessary  disputes,  patient  and 
charitable  one  with  another  in  all  divergencies  of 
thought  and  practice.  Christ  rebuked  his  over- 
zealous  disciples  when  they  related  to  him  their 
having  forbidden  others,  who  were  not  of  them- 
selves, to  cast  out  devils  and  to  teach  in  his  name. 

Furthermore,  while  truth  is  ever  the  same,  men's 


Gregory  the  Great — Conclusion.  337 

perception  of  truth  is  forever  changing  and,  we  be- 
lieve,  enlarging.     What  suffices  for  one  genera- 
tion, new  enlightenment  may  make  practically  false 
for  another.     It  is  now  universally  discerned  that 
revelation  in  Holy  Writ  was  progressive — God  suit- 
ing his  thought  to  the  minds  of  men ;   far  clearer 
is  the  fact  that  discovery  is  progressive,  and  that 
we   advance   by  slow  and  painful  stages  toward 
more  perfect  knowledge.     And  to  all  honest  minds 
it  appears  as  an  indisputable  fact  that  every  new 
advance,  every  new  idea,  every  reform,  has  been 
opposed   by  good  men — by  good  men   far  more 
strenuously  and  successfully  than  by  evil  men — 
good  and  wise,  but  in  both  qualities  human  and 
imperfect.      The   great   conflicts   of  history  have 
never  been  between  wholly  wicked  men  and  evil 
doctrines  on  the  one  side,  and  wholly  good  men 
and  true  doctrines  on  the  other  side.     It  is  the  rea- 
sonable part  of   the  student,  if  he  would  gather 
from  human  history  its  full  results,  to  seek  to  un- 
derstand and  to  judge  justly  all  men,  both  in  the 
past  and  in  the  present,  whether  called  heretic  or 
saint;  and  to  comprehend  what  of  truth  there  is, 
or  was,  in  every  cause  and  every  creed,  and  what 
of  worth  in  every  institution  and  every  doctrine. 

Finally,  the  words  of  Irenasus,  spoken  in  the 
second  century  concerning  the  supreme  posses- 
sion of  the  world,  should  fill  every  Christian  with 
a  feeling  of  praise  and  a  sense  of  personal  respon- 
sibility— praise  for  what  he  has  received  from  the 
ages  past,  responsibility  to  transmit  this  gift  to 
22 


338  The  Church  of  the  Fathers. 

generations  following:  "The  Church,"  he  says, 
*' though  dispersed  throughout  the  whole  world, 
even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  has  received  froni 
the  apostles  and  their  disciples  this  faith." 

L'ENVOI. 

One  holy  Church  of  God  appears 

Through  every  age  and  race, 
Unwasted  by  the  lapse  of  years, 

Unchanged  by  changing  place. 

From  oldest  time,  on  farthest  shores, 

Beneath  the  pine  or  palm, 
One  unseen  Presence  she  adores, 

With  silence  or  with  psalm. 

Her  priests  are  all  God's  faithful  sons, 

To  serve  the  world  raised  up-, 
The  pure  in  heart  her  baptized  ones. 

Love,  her  communion  cup. 

The  Truth  is  her  prophetic  gift, 

The  Soul  her  sacred  page; 
And  feet  on  Mercy's  errand  swift 

Do  make  her  pilgrimage. 

— Saimiel  Longfellorw . 


APPEl^DIX  I. 


CHIEF  AUTHORS  AND  THEIR  CHIEF  WORKS. 
I.  Ante-Nicene  Period. 


Authors. 

Writings. 

Approximate 
Dates. 

/.  Apostolic  Fathers. 

Clement,     Bishop    of 

First  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 

Rome. 

thians  

A.  D.    88-  97. 

Ignatius,     Bishop     of 
Antioch. 

Seven  Epistles 

107-116. 

Poljcarp,    Bishop    of 

Epistles    to    the     Philip- 

Smyrna. 
Barnabas. 

pians ,  .... 

1 16. 

Epistle 

70-130- 
100-140. 

Hermas. 

Shepherd  of  Hermas 

Papias,  Bishop  of  Hi- 

Expositions  of  Oracles  of 

erapolis  in  Phrygia. 

the    Lord    (only  a  few 

fragments  extant) 

120-163. 

Unknown. 

Epistle  to  Diognetus 

Didache,  or  the  Teaching 

100-140. 

of  the  Apostles 

100. 

Second  Epistleof  Clement 

(so  called)  to  the   Co- 

rinthians  

120-140. 

//.  Apologists  of  the 

Second  Century. 

Justin  Martyr. 

Apology  I.;  Apology  II.; 

Dialogue  with  Trypho . 

138-165. 

Tatian. 

Address  to  the  Greeks.. . 

170. 

Athenagoras. 

Embassy    (or    Plea)    for 
Christians;     On    the 

Resurrection 

170-180. 

Theophilus,  Bishop  of 

Apology     Addressed     to 

Antioch. 

Autolycus 

169-181. 

(339) 


340 


Appendix  /. 


Authors. 

Writings. 

Approximate 
Dates. 

Quadratus. 

Only   Quotations   in    Eu- 

sebius  Extant 

1 17-138. 
1 17-138. 
160-180. 

Aristides. 

Apology 

Melito. 

r^          oj 

Fragments 

ApoUinaris. 

Fragments 

Miltiades. 

Fragments 

///.  GreeJi  Writers  of 

Alexandria. 

Clement. 

Exhortation;    Instructor; 
Stromata,    or    Miscel- 
lanies;   On    the    Rich 

Man 

190-220. 

Origen. 

De    Principiis;     Against 
Celsus;  Commentaries 
on   the   Old   and    New- 

Testaments  

185-254- 
248-264. 

Dionysius,   Bishop    of 

Important  Fragments 

Alexandria. 

IV.  Other  Greek 

Writers. 

Gregory    Thaumatur- 

Declaration  of  Faith 

210-270. 

gus,  Bishop  of  Neo- 

Caesarea. 

Methodius,  Bishop  of 

Symposium;    Eulogy    on 

Tyre. 

Origen;      Banquet     of 

the  Virgins,  etc 

295-311- 

V.  Writers  of  Greek  A  71  - 

tecedents  or  Culture  in 

the  Latin  Church. 

Irenseus,     Bishop     of 

Five  Books  Against  Here- 

Lyons. 
Hippolytus,  Bishop  of 

sies 

130-202. 

Philosophumena;    Christ 

Portus  Romanus. 

and  Antichrist ;  Against 

Noetus,  etc 

200-236. 

VI.  Latin  Writers. 

TertuUian. 

Works  Voluminous 

160-230. 

Appendix  I. 


341 


Authors, 


Minucius  Felix. 
Cyprian,      Bishop 
Carthage. 

Novatian. 

Arnobius. 

Lactantius. 


of 


Writings. 


Octavius 

Epistles;  Treatise  on  the 
Unity  of  the  Church, 
etc 

The  Trinity;  Jewish 
Meats 

Disputations  Against  the 
Pagans 

Divine  Institutes;  Anger 
of  God;  Work  of  God; 
Manner  in  which  the 
Persecutors  Died 


Approximate 
Dates. 


160-230. 

249-258. 
250-260. 
295-305- 

250-230. 


II.    NiCENK  AND  POST-NICENE   PERIOD. 


Authors. 


/.  Greek. 
Eusebius  of  Caesarea. 
Athanasius. 


Basil. 


Gregory  Nazianzen. 
Gregory  of  Nyssa. 


Writings. 


Cyril  of  Jerusalem. 


Ecclesiastical  History 

Against  the  Heathen;  On 
the  Incarnation;  On 
the  Council  of  Nicsea, 
etc 

Homilies  on  the  Hexgem 
eron,  etc.;  Against 
Eunomius;  On  the 
Holy  Spirit;  Ethics... 

Orations  and  Sermons.. . 

Book  on  the  Hexsemeron ; 
On  the  Formation  of 
Man;  Catechetical 
Oration;  On  General 
Notions;  Against  Eu- 
nomius; Against  Ap- 
pollinaris 

Catechetical  Discourses. 


Approximate 
Dates. 


265-340. 


296-373- 


329-379- 
330-390. 


334-395- 
«i 5-386. 


342 


Appendix  /. 


Authors. 


Epiphanius. 

Cjril  of  Alexandria. 


Chrjsostom. 

Theodore  of  Mopsues- 

tia. 
Theodoret. 


Socrates. 
Sozomen. 
Evagrius. 

//.  Latin. 

Hilary  of  Poitiei 

Ambrose. 


Jerome. 
Augustine. 


Writings. 

Approximate 
Dates. 

Against  Heresies 

315-403- 

Against  Nestorius;  Com- 

mentaries on  the   Old 

and  New  Testaments. 

444. 

Homilies  and  Commenta- 

ries   

347-407. 

Commentaries    on     the 

Minor  Prophets,  etc.. . 

350-428. 

Healing  of  the   Heathen 

Affections;  Dialogues; 

Heretical  Fables ;  Com- 

mentaries; Ecclesiasti- 

cal History 

386-458. 
-440. 

Ecclesiastical  Histoi-y  . . . 

Ecclesiastical  History  .  .. 

375-444- 

Ecclesiastical  History  .  .  . 

431-594- 

On  the  Psalms;   On   the 

368. 

Trinity .... 

3^0-397. 

Treatises  on  the  Hexaeme- 

ron    and     Other     Old 

Testament     Themes; 

On    Mysteries;    On 

Sacraments:    On   the 

Holy    Spirit;     Exposi- 

tion of  Psalms;  Duties 

of  the  Clergy  ;  Eremit- 

ic   History;    Ecclesias- 

tical History,  Apology 

for  His  Own  Faith;  Ex- 

position of  the  Symbol . 

34-S-410. 

Lives  of  Illustrious  Men; 

Commentaries;  Trans- 

lation of  the  Bible 

340-42a 

City  of  God  ;  Confessions ; 

Enchiridion;    On    the 

Appendix  /. 


343 


Authors. 


John  Cassianus. 

Vincentius. 

Prosper  of  Aquitaine, 


Gregory  the  Great. 


Writings. 


Trinity;  On  the  Spirit 
and  the  Letter;  On 
Nature  and  Grace;  On 
Marriage  and  Concu- 
piscence; On  the  Soul 
and  Its  Origin;  On 
Grace  and  Free  Will; 
On  Predestination  of 
Saints;  On  the  Gift  of 
Perseverance;  Against 
Julian;  Reply  to  Faus- 
tus,  the  Manichgean; 
Anti-Donatist  Writ- 
ings; Tractates  on  the 
Gospel  of  John;  Expo- 
sition of  the  Psalms; 
Retractions;  Numer- 
ous Sermons  and  Epis- 
tles   

Colloquies;  On  the  In- 
carnation; Institutes.. 

Commonitorium 

Responses  for  Augustine; 
On  the  Grace  of  God 
and  Free  Will;  Car- 
men de  Ingratis 

Pastoral  Care;  Book  of 
Morals,  or  Exposition 
of  the  Book  of  Job; 
Homilies  on  Ezekiel 
and  the  Gospels;  Dia- 
logues ;  Epistles 


Approximate 
Dates. 


354-430. 
360-450. 

-434- 


455-463- 


540-604. 


Note. —  .  large  body  of  apocryphal  gospels  and  acts  of  apos- 
tles, hagiography,  liturgies,  apocalypses,  constitutions,  canons, 
and  decrees,  etc.,  grew  up  during  the  period.     The  library  of 


344  Aj>fendix  /. 

the  Fathers  contains  the  most  important  works,  genuine  and 
spurious,  of  all  this  time.  The  writings  of  Dionysius  "the 
Areopagite,"  dating  probably  in  the  fifth  century,  were  a  char- 
acteristic and  very  important  product  of  the  time.  (See  Allen's 
"Christian  Institutions.") 

This  table  is  based  upon  tables   in    Sheldon's    "  History   of 
Christian  Doctrine,"  revised  according  to  Stearns's  "  Manual." 


APPEI^DIX  II. 


TABLE  OF  EMPERORS.i 

The  Rulers  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Empires,  the 

Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  the  Gothic  Kingdom 

IN  Italy. 


Octavianus  Augustus.  .B.C.  30 
-A.D.  14 

Tiberius 14-  37 

Gaius  Caligula 37-  41 

Claudius 41-54 

Nero 54-  68 

Galba 68-69 

Otho January  69 

Vitellius April  69 

Vespasian 69-  79 

Titus 79-81 

Domitian 81-  96 

Nerva 96-  98 

Trajan 98-117 

Hadrian 1 17-138 

Antoninus  Pius 138-161 

Marcus  Aurelius 161-180 

Commodus 180-192 

Pertinax 193 

Septimius  Severus  . , .  193-211 

Caracalla , 211-117 

Macrinus 217-218 


Elagabalus 

Alexander  Severus. . . 
Maximin,     the     Thra- 

cian 

The  two  Gordians. , . , 
Balbinus  and  Pupienus 

(and  Gordian) 

Gordian 

Philip,  the  Arab 

Decius     

Gallus 

Valerian 

Gallienus 

M.  Aurelius  Claudius. 
Quintillus  proclaimed 

emperor    by    the 

troops  at  Aquileia. . 

Aurelian 

Tacitus 

Probus  

Carus 

Diocletian 


218-222 

222-235 


235- 
238 


^38 


238 

238-244 

244-249 

250-253 

251-253 

253-260 

260-268 

268-270 


270-275 
275-276 
276-282 
282-284 
284 


Diocletian'' s  Plan  of  Ejnpire. 

Diocletian  in  the  East,  284-305.     Galerius  Maximianus  be- 
comes Caesar,  293;  becomes  Augustus,  305. 

^ Taken  and    adapted,   by    permission,    from   Dr.   Stearns's   "Manual    of 
Patrology." 

(345) 


34^  Affendix  II. 

Maximianus  Herculius,  286-305.  Constantius  Chlorus  be- 
comes Ciesar,  305;  becomes  Augustus,  305. 

Galerius  in  the  East,  305-311.  Maximinus  Daza  becomes 
Caesar,  305;  assumed  title  of  Augustus,  307  (?). 

Constantius,  306-306.  Valerius  Severus,  son  of  Galerius, 
becomes  Caesar,  305;  proclaimed  Augustus  by  Galerius,  306. 

Maximinus  Daza  in  the  East,  307.  Severus  in  the  West, 
306-307. 

306.  Constantius,  dying,  appoints  his  son  Constantine  as  his 
successor.  Constantine  appointed  Civsar  by  Galerius;  saluted 
as  emperor  by  the  soldiers.  Maxentius,  son  of  Maximianus 
Herculius,  proclaimed  emperor  at  Rome;  supported  by  Her- 
culius. 

307.  Severus  put  to  death  at  Ravenna  by  order  of  Maxen- 
tius. Licinius  appointed  Ciesar  by  Galerius,  Herculius  assent- 
ing. 

311.  Treaty  between  Maximinus  Daza  and  Licinius;  be- 
tween Licinius  and  Constantine. 

312.  Battle  of  Milvian  Bridge:  d.  of  Maxentius;  Constan- 
tine Emperor  in  the  West. 

313.  Battle  of  Heracleia:  defeat  of  Maximinus  Daza  (d.  314) 
by  Licinius. 

315.  War  between  Constantine  and  Licinius,  in  which  the 
former  is  victorious,  receiving  from  Licinius  Greece,  Macedo- 
nia, and  part  of  the  lower  Danube  valley. 

223.  Battles  of  Hadrianople  and  Chrycopolis;  d.  of  Licinius. 
Constantine  Emperor  of  the  Roman  world. 


Constantine  L,  the 

Great 323-337 

Constantine  n 337-361 

Julian  the  Apostate  ..    361-363 


Jovian 363-364 

Valentinian    1 364 

Associates  his  brother 
Valens  with  himself. 


Double  Headship. 


West. 

Valentinian   1 364-375 

Gratian  and  Valen- 
tinian II 375-3^3 

Valentinian   II 383-39^ 


East. 
Valens   364-378 


Theodosius  1 392-395 


Theodosius  I.,  the  Great 392-395 

(The  last  emperor  of  the  whole  Roman  world.) 


Appe7idix  II. 


347 


West. 

Honorius 395-423 

John  (the  usurper). .. .   423-425 

Valentinian  II 425-455 

Petronius  Maximus  . .  455 

Avitus 455-456 

Majorian 457-461 

Severus  III 461-467 

Anthemius 467-472 

Olybnus 472 

Gljcerius 473 

Julius  Nepos 474 

Romulus  Augustulus.   476 


East. 
Arcadius 

Theodosius   IT. 

Pulcheria,    his    sister, 

395-408 
408-450 

empress  after  his 
death;  married. 

Marcian 

450-457 
457-474 

Leo  I.,  the  Thracian.  . 

Leo  11.  and  Zeno 

474-491 

Odoacer,  the  Herulian  476-493 

Theodoric,  Ostrogoth.  493-520 
Amalasuntha    and 

Athalaric 520-526 

Athalaric 526-534 

Theodahad 534-53^ 

Witiges 536-540 

Ildibad 540 

Baduila  (Totila) 541-552 

Teias  (Thilo) 552-553 

Battle  of  Mons  Lac- 

tarius;  end  of  the 

Gothic  Empire. 

Exarchate  in  Italy, 
(Dates  are  approximate.) 


Basliscus  (usurper). . ,   477 
Anastasius  1 491-518 


Justin  1 518-527 

Justinian  1 527-565 


Longinus 567-585 

Smaragdus 585-589 

Romanus 589-597 

Callinicus 597-602 

Smaragdus  (again) . . .  602-6 1 1 


Justin  II 565-578 

Tiberius  XL,  Constan- 

tine 578-582 

Maurice 582-602 

Phocas 602-610 


THE   END. 


Date  Due 


Qk^ 


BW921  .K39 

The  church  of  the  fathers. :  A  history 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00034  4202 


